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URSULA'S   FRESHMAN 


THE  "TEDDT"  BOOKS 

By   ANNA    CHAPIN   RAT 

TEDDY  :    HER  BOOK 
PHEBE  :    HER  PROFESSION 
TEDDY  :  HER  DAUGHTER 
NATHALIE'S  CHUM 
URSULA'S  FRESHMAN 


Ursula's  Freshman 


BY 
ANNA  CHAPIN  RAY 

Author  of  " Teddy,  Her  Book"  "Phebe,  Her  Profession,' 
"Nathalie's  Chum"  "The  Dominant  Strain,"  etc. 


ILLUSTRATED   BY 
HARRIET  ROOSEVELT  RICHARDS 


BOSTON 

LITTLE,  BROWN,  AND  COMPANY 
1903 


Copyright,   f<poj, 
BY  LITTLE,  BROWN,  AND  COMPANY. 

All  rights  reserved 


Published,  October,  1903 


LIST   OF   ILLUSTRATIONS 


"  '  But  I  thought  you  did  n't  like  girls  '  "  .     .     .      Frontispiece 

"  Mrs.  Myers  saw  the  critical  moment  approaching 

fast" Page     38 

"  '  Be  still,  Ursula  !     John,  what  has  happened  to 

you?'" "       115 

"  The  sight  of  them  took  away  somewhat  of  the 

bitterness  from  her  crying  " "       154 

"  '  By  Jove,  you  look  like  a  veritable  wood-nymph,' 

he  said  admiringly  " "       219 

"  '  It  seems  ages  on  ages  ago,'  said  Ursula  "       .     .       "       266 


2229054 


Ursula's  Freshman 


CHAPTER  ONE 

SHE  will  be  with  me,  all  winter." 
Mrs.   Gifford  Barrett,  born  Phebe  Mc- 
Alister,  raised  her  brows  in  polite  interrogation. 
Then  she  tried  to  turn  her  attention  to  the  silk 
on  the  counter  before  her. 

"  Yes.  She  is  named  for  me,  you  see ;  and  I 
have  never  really  done  anything  to  recognize 
her.  It  will  be  a  fine  thing  for  her,  and  I  can  do 
it  now,  better  than  later  on.  And  yet,  it  is  going 
to  be  a  great  care,  this  taking  charge  of  an  un- 
formed girl." 

"  You  may  find  her  a  most  enjoyable  addition 
to  your  family,  Mrs.  Myers.  How  much  did  you 
say  this  is  ?  "  Mrs.  Barrett  turned  to  the  sales- 
man, with  the  evident  intention  of  ending  the 
conversation. 

Her  companion  refused  to  take  the  hint. 

"  Buying  gowns,  the  very  week  you  are  back 
from  Europe  ?  "  she  inquired  gayly. 


2  URSULA'S  FRESHMAN 

Mrs.  Barrett  shuddered  a  little  at  the  idea  of 
her  own  rather  majestic  proportions  clad  in  the 
violent  Prussian  blue  under  her  hand. 

"  No ;  merely  pillows  for  Rex's  room." 

"I  remember.  He  goes  into  Yale,  this  fall. 
John  will  enter,  next  year.  He  is  to  take  his 
final  examinations,  the  week  he  is  sixteen." 

Mrs.  Barrett  parried  the  thrust  indifferently. 

"Yes,  and  my  lazy  boy  is  nineteen.  But  he 
was  too  energetic  to  devote  himself  to  his  books 
as  closely  as  your  John  has  done.  Both  Mr. 
Barrett  and  I  have  cared  more  for  a  sound  body 
and  steady  nerves  than  for  too  close  sticking  to 
books." 

"Oh,  John  is  perfectly  healthy.  His  looks 
are  deceptive,  and  he  is  never  very  exuberant." 

"  And  is  his  cousin  like  him  ?  You  said  she 
was  your  brother's  daughter,  I  think." 

Mrs.  Myers  shrugged  her  shoulders  ever  so 
slightly. 

"It  is  quite  impossible  to  tell  what  she  may 
be.  She  is  utterly  untrained,  I  suppose,  for  she 
has  spent  all  her  life  in  a  scrap  of  an  Iowa  town, 
and  a  minister  with  a  large  family  can't  give  too 
much  time  to  any  one  child.  However,  if  she  is 
tractable,  I  can  put  up  with  a  good  deal  of  crude- 
ness  at  the  start,  and  John's  influence  over  her 
will  be  very  helpful,"  Mrs.  Myers  answered  as 


URSULAS  FRESHMAN 


blandly  as  if  her  maternal  care  were  not  seeking 
to  create  the  worst  incipient  prig  upon  Manhattan 
Island. 

"  Is  she  younger  than  he  ?  " 

"  Only  a  month ;  but  the  different  training 
will  count  in  his  favor.  He  is  so  mature  and 
reliable." 

Mrs.  Barrett  let  the  silk  drop  from  her  hand. 

"  Ten  yards,  please,"  she  said  abruptly. 

Far  back  in  the  salesman's  eyes  there  came  the 
suspicion  of  a  twinkle.  This  was  by  no  means 
the  first  silk  he  had  sold  to  Mrs.  Barrett,  and  he 
knew  her  ways  of  giving  vent  to  her  exasperation. 
Mrs.  Myers  babbled  on,  quite  unaware  of  the  fact 
that  she  was  hopelessly  antagonizing  the  woman 
with  whom  for  years  she  had  been  trying  to  be 
upon  familiar  terms. 

Again  she  ignored  the  obvious  hint  that  she 
should  take  her  departure. 

"  Does  your  son  go  away  soon  ?  "  she  asked, 
while  she  lingered  as  if  attracted  by  the  folds  of 
silk  on  which  her  hand  was  resting. 

"  Yale  opens,  a  week  from  Thursday.  We  are 
going  up,  Monday."  Mrs.  Barrett  laid  the  last 
coin  down  on  the  counter  with  a  vicious  slap. 
Mrs.  Myers  was  not  of  her  carefully  chosen 
world. 

"We?" 


URSULA'S  FRESHMAN 


"  Yes.  I  am  going  up  to  help  settle  his  room, 
and  Mrs.  Farrington  is  to  meet  me  there.  We 
shall  get  things  to  rights,  while  Rex  is  taking  his 
examinations."  Mrs.  Barrett's  tone  was  as  im- 
personal as  if  she  had  been  reciting  her  cate- 
chism. 

Mrs.  Myers  shook  her  head  doubtfully. 

"  I  should  never  dare  do  that  with  John.  He 
would  not  do  as  good  work  in  his  examinations, 
if  he  knew  I  was  waiting  for  him  in  his  room. 
But  Eex  isn't  as  nervous  as  John." 

"  I  don't  propose  to  wait  for  Rex,  anyway. 
My  function  is  to  work,"  Mrs.  Barrett  responded 
grimly. 

"  It  amounts  to  the  same  thing." 

"Not  always."  She  turned  to  the  salesman. 
"  No ;  I  will  take  it  with  me.  I  am  in  a  great 
hurry,  this  morning." 

Mrs.  Myers  looked  at  her  regretfully. 

"  Good-bye,  Mrs.  Barrett,"  she  said,  with  a 
caressing  accent  on  the  first  syllable.  "  If  I  find 
that  my  new  charge  is  too  much  for  me,  I  shall 
come  to  you  for  advice.  They  say  you've  made 
a  great  success  of  the  Arterburn  girl." 

Mrs.  Barrett  forgot  her  haste  and  faced  about 
swiftly. 

"Miss  Arterburn  and  her  brother  are  most 
charming  additions  to  our  circle  of  friends,  Mrs. 


URSULA'S  FRESHMAN 


Myers ;  and  it  has  been  a  great  delight  to  us  to 
have  them  with  us,  this  last  year." 

"  I've  no  doubt  of  it,"  Mrs.  Myers  assented 
meekly.  "  I  only  hope  I  shall  be  able  to  say  as 
much  of  my  young  niece." 

"I  trust  you  may.  Good-morning."  And 
Mrs.  Barrett  walked  away  with  the  stride  of  an 
offended  goddess  in  the  skirts  of  a  London  tailor. 

And,  meanwhile,  the  young  niece  was  sitting 
on  her  own  back  steps,  shelling  beans  for  dinner. 

It  was  a  week,  now,  since  the  monotony  of 
Ursula  Thain's  life  had  been  broken  by  the  com- 
ing of  a  crested,  cream-colored  letter  from  New 
York.  Up  to  that  time,  in  her  girlish  mind, 
Aunt  Ursula's  name  had  stood  for  a  vision  com- 
pounded from  the  belated  fashion  plates  of  the 
passing  years,  and  for  the  motive  power  of  oc- 
casional trunks  that  came  to  her  mother,  stuffed 
with  costly  flimsiness  which  was  wholly  unsuited 
to  their  simple  surroundings.  Mr.  Thain  was 
unworldly  and  of  lofty  ideals  ;  yet  even  he  never 
failed  to  speak  with  a  certain  pride  of  his  older 
sister  who  had  married  a  rising  young  broker. 
With  the  passing  of  the  years,  the  broker  had 
risen  to  a  height  of  prosperity  which  Mr.  Thain, 
in  his  quiet  environment,  was  unable  to  realize. 
To  him  and  indirectly  to  his  family,  Sister 
Ursula  was  still  the  pretty  daughter  of  a  coun- 


URSULA'S  FRESHMAN 


try  pastor,  who  had  married  well  and  lived  in  an 
apartment  near  Stuyvesant  Square.  She  had 
changed  her  address  since  then,  but  the  new 
street  and  number  carried  no  meaning  to  her 
brother's  mind. 

And  now,  all  at  once,  it  had  been  decided  that 
Ursula  Thain  was  to  spend  the  winter  with  her 
aunt  in  New  York. 

"  But  we  can't  let  her  go.  I  need  her,"  Mrs. 
Thain  had  protested. 

Ursula,  listening,  held  her  breath.  It  was  not 
that  she  was  disloyal  to  her  home  ; .  but  few  girls 
of  fifteen  could  ignore  the  charm  of  a  life  that 
overflowed  with  ruffles  of  green  chiffon  and  pet- 
ticoats of  greenish-gray  silk.  Ursula's  best  pet- 
ticoat was  of  black  cashmere,  cut  down  from  one 
of  her  mother's  gowns.  And  New  York  was  a 
huge  city,  fifty,  sixty,  ninety  times  as  large  as 
Lucretia.  The  very  thought  was  alluring ;  but 
she  pulled  her  mind  away  from  it  abruptly. 

"  It  is  altogether  too  good  an  opportunity  to 
be  lost,"  her  father  was  saying,  in  what  she 
called  his  " and-finally-brethren "  tone.  "She 
needs .  better  schools ;  she  needs  to  see  what  the 
world  is  like.  It  isn't  as  if  she  were  going  among 
strangers.  Ursula  is  my  only  sister  ;  she  can  do 
for  the  child  what  we  can  never  hope  to  do.  No 
wonder  she  wants  to  see  her  niece  and  namesake." 


URSULA'S  FRESHMAN 


"  But  how  will  she  go  ? "  Mrs.  Thain  inter- 
rupted practically. 

The  good  minister  looked  startled.  He  was 
never  quite  prepared  to  have  his  wife  pull  him 
out  of  a  reverie  by  one  of  her  matter-of-fact 
questions. 

"  Why — in  the  cars,  I  suppose,"  he  replied 
vaguely,  his  mind  still  intent  upon  his  sister's 
present  and  his  child's  future. 

"Naturally.  It  would  take  rather  too  long 
for  her  to  walk,  and  automobiles  are  expensive. 
But  she  can't  go  alone,"  his  wife  said  dryly. 

"  It  is  possible  that  I  could  go  with  her.  I — I 
have  been  thinking  for  some  time  that  I  ought 
to  go  East  and  get  into  touch  with  some  of  our 
men  there.  There's  a  convention  in  Boston,  the 
first  week  in  October,  and  it  might  be  a  help — 
it  couldn't  help  being  a  help  to  me  to  go  there." 
He  paused  irresolutely.  Then  he  added,  with 
sudden  decision,  "  Anyway,  the  child  must  go. 
We  can't  afford  to  refuse  Ursula's  generous 
offer." 

His  wife  started  to  speak,  glanced  down  at  her 
shabby  gown,  around  at  the  plain  room,  then  up 
at  her  husband's  animated  face,  the  mobile  face 
of  a  dreamer  and  an  enthusiast.  Then,  for  the 
dozenth  time,  she  turned  her  back  upon  the  hopes 
that  went  with  a  certain  little  hoard,  scrimped 


URSULAS  FRESHMAN 


here  and  there  from  the  narrow  margins  of  the 
housekeeping  allowance.  Eising,  she  crossed 
the  room  and  laid  her  hand  on  his  shoulder. 

"It  will  be  just  what  you  need,  Irving,"  she 
said  heartily.  "  You  will  preach  all  the  better 
for  a  bit  of  change  and  holiday,  and  you  will 
come  back  with  any  number  of  fresh  ideas  about 
your  parish  work.  Of  course,  I  shall  miss  the 
child ;  but  it  would  be  wrong  to  allow  her  to 
lose  the  chance.  How  soon  do  you  think  you 
ought  to  start  ?  " 

And  Ursula  Thain,  true  child  of  such  parents, 
caught  her  breath  as  she  listened.  It  was  one 
thing  to  see  New  York  and  its  glories ;  it  was 
quite  another  to  turn  her  back  for  a  year  upon 
her  dreamy  father,  her  steadfast  mother  and  the 
tribe  of  younger  children  that  crammed  the 
little  house  to  overflowing.  The  rival  claims 
were  strong  and  equally  matched.  Left  to 
herself,  she  never  could  have  chosen  between 
them. 

That  was  a  week  ago.  Now  the  beans  fell 
mechanically  from  her  slender  brown  fingers, 
while  she  stared  out  across  the  prairie  with  un- 
seeing brown  eyes.  It  was  Tuesday  noon.  On 
the  following  Thursday,  she  and  her  father  were 
to  start  upon  their  journey  eastward,  and,  for 
the  moment,  Ursula's  thoughts  were  as  intent 


URSULA'S  FRESHMAN 


upon  the  journey  as  upon  the  unknown  life 
which  awaited  her  at  her  journey's  end.  New 
York  was  a  mere  name  to  her,  although  she  had 
spent  much  time,  the  past  week,  in  staring  at 
certain  pictures  in  a  bound  volume  of  Harper's 
Weekly  that  one  of  her  girl  friends  had  lent  her 
for  her  enlightenment.  She  had  tried  to  grasp 
their  meaning,  and  she  had  failed.  Did  her 
Aunt  Ursula  live  in  a  house  twenty-two  stories 
high,  and  wear  a  gown  which  stopped  short  at 
her  shoulder-blades  ?  Did  she  customarily  adorn 
her  head,  like  an  Indian  on  a  penny,  with  a  tuft 
of  feathers?  Ursula  was  open  to  conviction; 
but  she  felt  that  she  must  draw  the  line  at  some- 
thing. She  would  wait  and  see  for  herself.  But 
the  journey  was  something  more  tangible.  Two 
trains  east  and  two  trains  west  passed  through 
Lucretia  daily,  and  Ursula  had  even  made  oc- 
casional expeditions  by  rail  to  Jenkinton,  the 
county  town  ten  miles  away.  But  New  York 
was  much,  much  farther.  The  prairie  grew  dim 
before  her  thoughtful  eyes. 

"  Hurry,  Ursula  !  It  is  time  the  beans  were 
cooking.  You  know  dinner  will  have  to  be  early, 
if  we  go  to  Jenkinton,  this  afternoon." 

In  her  haste  to  conceal  her  emotion,  Ursula 
mistook  a  bean-pod  for  her  handkerchief.  The 
scratch  across  her  lids  acted  as  a  counter-irritant, 


10  URSULAS  FRESHMAN 

and  she  dismissed  her  tears  together  with  her 
dreams. 

Her  mother's  face  was  thoughtful  as  she  put 
the  beans  on  to  boil,  and  the  thought  was  not  all 
for  the  stove  in  front  of  her.  However,  ex- 
perience had  taught  Mrs.  Thain  that  reverie  had 
no  place  in  her  life,  that,  for  her,  thought  and 
work  must  go  hand  in  hand.  She  crossed  the 
room,  took  up  her  rolling-pin,  then  called  to  her 
daughter  who  had  gone  back  to  her  seat  on  the 
steps. 

"Come  here,  Ursula.  I  want  to  talk  with 
you." 

For  some  moments  after  the  girl  had  seated 
herself  at  her  mother's  elbow,  the  pin  rolled  and 
whacked  unceasingly. 

"  I  don't  know  how  I  am  going  to  spare  you, 
child,"  Mrs.  Thain  said  abruptly,  at  last.  "  A 
year  is  a  long  time,  and  I've  come  to  depend  on 
you  a  good  deal." 

Something  unusual  in  the  tone  struck  Ursula. 
She  looked  up  to  see  two  heavy  tears  clinging  to 
her  mother's  lashes.  The  unwonted  sight  brought 
the  lump  back  into  her  own  throat,  and  she  had 
a  momentary  longing  to  throw  herself  into  her 
mother's  arms ;  but  Mrs.  Thain  was  unduly  tall 
and  angular,  and  the  rolling-pin  was  busy  again. 
It  was  the  frequent  case :  the  mother  arms  were 


URSULA'S  FRESHMAN  11 

too  full  to  give  the  invitation  dictated  by  the 
hungry  mother  heart. 

"  I'm — I'm  willing  to  stay  at  home,  if  you  need 
me,  mother,"  Ursula  faltered  mendaciously. 

"  No ;  you're  not.  If  you  are,  I'm  not  willing 
you  should.  It's  not  that  I  really  need  you, 
either,  though  you  are  a  splendid  hand  with  the 
children,  and  you  do  save  me  a  good  many  steps. 
But  Mary  can  help  me  about  as  much,  only  I 
can't  talk  things  over  with  her.  She  is  too  young 
to  plan  and  contrive  with  me,  as  you  do." 

"  I  wonder  if  I  really  ought  to  go,"  Ursula  said 
thoughtfully. 

Her  mother  turned  on  her  with  a  swift  gleam 
of  hope  in  her  eyes. 

"  Don't  you  want  to  go,  Ursula  ?  " 

"  I  do,  and  then  I  don't.  It  is  going  to  be  fun 
to  see  New  York  and  to  go  visiting  for  a  whole 
year,  and  to  have  this  long  journey  with  father ; 
but  then  again  I  just  can't  bear  to  leave  you  and 
Molly  and  the  children.  I  want  you,  and  I  want 
New  York;  and  the  two  wants  are  in  such  a 
tangle  that  I  can't  unsnarl  them.  "What  shall  I 
do,  mother  ?  "  She  looked  up  despairingly  from 
the  horns  of  this,  her  first  dilemma. 

The  rolling-pin  flew  to  and  fro  busily;  then 
with  a  flap  and  a  tuck  the  pie  was  covered  and 
in  the  oven,  before  Mrs.  Thain  spoke  again. 


12  URSULA'S  FRESHMAN 

"  Ursula,"  she  said,  with  a  slow  accent  which 
betrayed  the  fact  that,  for  her,  life  was  too  busy 
for  many  endearments  ;  "  you  have  been  a  great 
comfort  sometimes.  You  are  steady  and  reliable, 
and  I  shall  miss  you ;  but  I  think  I  am  glad  you 
are  going.  Don't  anticipate  it  too  much,  though. 
It  is  hard  to  transplant  things,  whether  they  are 
bean-stalks  or  girls,  and  have  them  keep  on  grow- 
ing straight.  Generally  they  have  a  hitch,  to 
show  where  they  strike  the  new  soil.  You  will 
like  the  new  soil ;  but  there  will  be  days  when 
you  will  feel  as  if  your  roots  would  never  get 
used  to  it,  and  it  will  take  all  your  grit  not  to  be 
discouraged.  But  remember  this:  your  father 
loves  your  Aunt  Ursula  with  all  his  heart,  and 
he  still  thinks  of  her  as  the  same  girl  he  knew 
in  the  old  home.  Men  don't  make  allowance  for 
change  as  women  do,  and  I  imagine  he  will  be 
some  surprised,  when  he  sees  her.  But  be  care- 
ful what  you  write  home;  your  father  hurts 
easily,  and  he  takes  his  hurts  to  heart  more  than 
some  people  do." 

Ursula  looked  terrified. 

"  Will— will  Aunt  Ursula  be  hateful  to  me  ?  " 
she  asked  slowly. 

"  Not  according  to  her  lights ;  but  her  lights 
are  electricity,  ours  are  sunshine,"  Mrs.  Thain 
answered,  with  one  of  the  phrases  which  came 


URSULA'S  FEESHMAN  13 

but  rarely  nowadays  to  explain  why  her  husband 
had  fallen  in  love  with  her,  twenty  years  before. 
"  She  will  finish  you,  as  she  calls  it ;  but  it  doesn't 
do  much  good  to  put  a  high  polish  on  to  an  im- 
perfect grain.  Kemember  that,  Ursula.  Money 
is  good,  and  so  are  manners ;  but  you  can  be  just 
as  much  of  a  lady  shelling  beans  for  dinner  as 
you  can  going  out  to  walk  with  a  maid  and 
trailing  a  poodle  along  behind  you.  If  you've 
got  brains  and  common  sense  and  a  good  heart, 
the  rest  will  come  of  itself." 

"  But  Aunt  Ursula  has  those  things  and  a  lot 
of  others  besides,"  Ursula  protested,  in  loyal  sup- 
port of  her  unknown  aunt. 

"Maybe.  Maybe  not.  She's  got  the  brains 
and  the  good  heart,  but  I'm  not  so  sure  of  the 
common  sense,"  Mrs.  Thain  retorted,  with  a 
swift  recollection  of  the  green  chiffon  frills  stowed 
away  in  the  garret.  "Anyway,  child,  make  the 
best  of  your  good  times.  You've  had  a  good 
start,  and  I  think  we  can  count  on  you  not  to  go 
far  wrong,  as  long  as  you  don't  get  your  head 
turned  with  so  many  new  notions.  And  when 
you  get  homesick,  don't  give  up  and  write  home. 
Shut  your  teeth  together,  and  remember  mother, 
and  stick  it  out  till  you  feel  better."  She  stooped 
to  kiss  the  unsteady  lips.  Then  she  added,  "  Now 
run  away  and  take  the  scraps  to  the  pig,  and  then 


14  URSULA'S  FRESHMAN 

get  ready  for  dinner.  We  must  hurry,  if  we  are 
to  get  that  new  suit.  Your  father  insists  upon 
it  that  your  aunt  expects  to  buy  your  new  clothes 
in  New  York ;  but  I'm  not  going  to  have  my  child 
go  to  her  aunt,  needing  to  have  a  new  dress,  the 
first  minute  she  gets  there." 


URSULA'S  FRESHMAN  15 


CHAPTEE  TWO 

is  the  last  person  I  would  trust  with 
the  care  of  a  growing  girl." 

"  Oh,  I  think  she  will  feed  her  properly." 

"  Don't  be  flippant,  Ted."  Mrs.  Barrett  spoke 
with  some  asperity.  "  It  isn't  a  case  merely  of 
Mellin's  Food  and  a  good  dressmaker ;  though  I 
am  willing  to  admit  that  those  small  items  do 
count  for  something.  Still,  they  are  items." 

"You  speak  with  authority,  considering  that 
your  experience  is  limited " 

"  To  chaperoning  one  girl  for  ten  months  ? 
Mayhap.  But  I  was  the  power  behind  the 
throne  for  ever  so  long  before  that,  and  even  you 
will  admit  that  Nathalie  is  a  success." 

"Modesty  was  never  one  of  your  failings, 
Babe.  In  this  case,  though,  you  have  some 
reason  to  be  proud,  for  Nathalie  shows  good 
training.  When  Giff's  music  and  money  fail,  I 
advise  you  to  start  a  dame  school  and  instruct 
the  rising  generation  in  the  three  M's :  manners, 
morals  and  mending." 

At  her  sister's  bantering  tone,  Mrs.  Barrett 


16  URSULAS  FRESHMAN 

gave  a  hostile  sniff.  Then  her  keen  eyes  soft- 
ened. 

"  Don't  make  fun  of  me,  Ted.  I  like  healthy, 
useful  girls,  and  I  get  on  with  them.  Let  me 
have  my  playthings,  as  long  as  I  don't  hurt  them. 
Nathalie  is  a  dear  child,  and  has  been  a  great 
comfort  to  me,  the  past  ten  months." 

"  Comfort,  you  pampered  worlding !  For 
what  do  you  need  comforting?  Giff  breathes 
for  you,  and  Rex  adores  you." 

Mrs.  Barrett  laughed  outright. 

"  My  language  was  more  sentimental  than  my 
mood,  Ted.  Rex  pronounces  Nathalie  a  brick. 
Do  you  prefer  that  phrase  ?  " 

Mrs.  Gifford  Barrett  and  Mrs.  William  Far- 
rington  were  basking  in  the  September  sunshine 
which  flooded  a  ragged  point  of  rocks  that  juts 
out  into  Long  Island  Sound.  Behind  them  were 
the  huddled  cottages  of  a  summer  colony,  over 
their  heads  was  one  stunted,  misshapen  cedar, 
before  their  eyes  was  the  blue  water  of  the 
Sound,  backed  by  the  bluer  line  of  the  Island, 
twenty  miles  away.  On  another  point  of  rocks, 
fifty  feet  distant,  a  scarlet  parasol  was  tilting 
this  way  and  that  in  the  hands  of  the  boy  who 
was  laying  down  the  law  to  his  girl  com- 
panion. 

For  a  few  minutes,  the  silence  between  the  sis- 


URSULA'S  FRESHMAN  17 

ters  was  unbroken.  Then  Mrs.  Barrett  turned 
suddenly. 

"  Ted,  it  is  rather  good  to  see  you  again.  You 
understand  some  things  better  than  most  people." 

It  was  not  exuberant  praise ;  but  Mrs.  Farring- 
ton  did  understand. 

"  When  did  you  see  Mrs.  Myers  ?  "  she  asked, 
after  another  interval. 

"  I  met  her  at  Lord  and  Taylor's,  the  day  after 
we  landed.  I  was  waiting  for  some  one  to  wait 
on  me ;  she,  apparently,  was  waiting  for  me  to 
be  waited  upon.  I  do  wish  the  wrong  people 
wouldn't  like  me." 

Mrs.  Farrington  ignored  the  plaint. 

"  What  is  the  cause  of  her  sudden  hospitality  ?  " 

"I  can't  imagine.  She  says  that  the  girl  is 
named  for  her,  that  she  has  never  done  anything 

for  her  and Then  she  giggled  a  little,  and 

added  that  it  might  be  more  convenient  to  have 
her  now  than  later." 

"  Before  there  is  any  need  of  bringing  her 
out,"  Mrs.  Farrington  commented  shrewdly. 

"  Yes,  youthfulness  comes  cheap.  And  she 
will  be  a  good  companion  for  John.  Teddy,  I 
don't  like  that  boy." 

"Why  not?"  " 

"Chiefly  because  he  is  smarter  than  Rex," 
she  acknowledged. 


18  URSULAS  FRESHMAN 

Mrs.  Farrington  shook  her  head. 

"  It  depends  upon  what  you  mean  by  smart- 
ness. Book-learning  isn't  everything ;  Rex 
knows  a  few  things  that  even  Homer  never 
dreamed  of.  They  may  not  make  the  same 
showing  on  an  examination  paper ;  but  they  are 
vastly  more  useful  in  the  long  run.  A  little 
knowledge  of  the  comparative  values  of  things 
will  keep  him  steady,  when  classics  and  conic 
sections  fail." 

"  I  am  glad  you  think  so,  for  I  confess  that  I 
hate  to  leave  the  boy,  to-morrow." 

"It's  good  for  him.  You  can't  keep  him  a 
child  forever." 

"  I  know  that ;  but  he  is  lazy  and  needs  me  to 
prod  him  along,  and  he  never  knows  enough  to 
put  on  warmer  undershirts,  when  the  mornings 
are  frosty.  It  will  be  a  miracle  if  he  escapes 
either  conditions  or  consumption." 

Mrs.  Farrington  laughed. 

"  It  is  a  mystery  to  me,  Babe,  how  you  ever 
have  managed  to  bring  up  two  older  boys,  and 
have  so  much  strength  left  to  worry  over 
Rex." 

"  Oh,  I  let  them  bring  themselves  up,  while  I 
was  taking  care  of  Rex,"  Mrs.  Barrett  returned 
tranquilly.  "Anyway,  I  haven't  spoiled  him. 
He's  a  man,  every  inch  of  him.  But  it  is  time 


URSULA' 8  FRESHMAN  19 

that  he  and  Nathalie  were  starting,  if  we're  to 
get  back  in  season  to  dress  for  dinner." 

The  scarlet  parasol  waved  an  answer  to  her 
call,  as  the  boy  and  girl  scrambled  to  their  feet. 
For  a  moment,  they  stood  silhouetted  against  the 
blue  water,  while  they  stared  out  across  the 
golden  sunset  to  a  group  of  distant  sails.  Mrs. 
Barrett,  however,  was  heedless  of  their  gesture 
of  admiration.  Instead  of  the  glistening  sea  and 
the  shining  sails,  she  was  watching  the  tall, 
slender  boy  and  the  energetic  girl  with  hair  the 
color  of  the  sunset.  In  dress  and  manner  and 
gesture,  both  were  marked  with  the  simplicity 
of  gentle  birth  and  good  breeding ;  under  the 
sunburn  of  their  recent  sea  voyage,  their  faces 
were  comely  with  health  and  good  temper. 
Mrs.  Barrett  watched  them,  and  told  herself  that 
they  were  good  to  watch.  Then  the  pride  died 
out  of  her  face,  and  her  eyes  danced  with  mirth. 

Unnoticed  by  either  of  the  sisters,  their  soli- 
tude had  been  invaded  and,  as  they  turned 
around,  their  eyes  fell  upon  another  pair  of  peo- 
ple perched  on  a  rock  close  at  hand.  The  neigh- 
borhood of  a  famous  university  sees  many  a 
quaint  figure  prowling  about  in  search  of  inter- 
esting points  of  observation.  Sooner  or  later, 
the  whole  world  passes  in  review  before  the 
town  pump  on  the  New  Haven  green ;  and  the 


20  URSULAS  FRESHMAN 

residents  of  the  staid  old  city  grow  indifferent  to 
the  endless  procession  of  educational  pilgrims. 
However,  rarely  even  the  town  pump  has  seen  a 
more  unworldly  pair  of  people  than  the  man  and 
the  girl  who  were  sitting  hand  in  hand  on  the 
rocks,  absorbed  in  eager  conversation. 

Mrs.  Barrett's  eyes  were  quick  and  keen.  It 
needed  no  second  glance  to  show  her  the  man's 
shiny  black  clothes,  ample  in  the  region  of  the 
shoulder-blades  and  knees,  scant  at  the  wrists 
and  ankles,  his  collar  which  seemed  constructed 
with  the  sole  idea  of  showing  off  his  Adam's 
apple,  his  limp  black  tie  and  the  Phi  Beta  Kappa 
charm  that  dangled  from  his  black  mohair  watch- 
guard.  The  face  was  thin  and  worn;  but  the 
eyes  were  alert.  One  hand  was  in  the  clasp  of 
the  girl  at  his  side ;  the  other  held  the  handle  of 
a  battered  tin  skillet,  evidently  rescued  from  the 
'long-shore  rubbish,  dripping  with  the  salty  water 
which  was  slowly  draining  from  the  dozen  clams 
in  the  bottom. 

The  girl  had  certain  possibilities  of  beauty. 
Her  features  were  good,  her  complexion  clear 
and  her  hair  and  eyes  were  bright  brown.  Fate 
had  intended  her  for  a  pretty  girl ;  but  the  hand 
of  Fate  had  been  paralyzed  by  the  stronger  hand 
of  some  one  who  was  not  only  color-blind,  but  a 
worshiper  as  well  at  the  shrine  of  the  service- 


URSULA'S  FRESHMAN  21 

able.  The  supple,  firm  lines  and  the  clear  tints 
were  disguised  by  a  coat  and  skirt  of  the  most 
uncompromising  shade  of  biddy-brown,  which 
suggested  in  their  shaping  the  same  architect  that 
had  created  the  man's  clothing.  Under  the  open 
jacket  was  a  tight  bodice  of  magenta  flannel 
decorated  with  bars  of  black  velvet  and  further 
beautified  with  a  pale  blue  ribbon  at  the  throat. 
Three  pink  roses  adorned  the  brown  sailor  hat, 
and  the  gloves  were  of  gray  cotton,  with  an 
elastic  band  in  lieu  of  buttons.  Mrs.  Barrett 
glanced  backwards  towards  Nathalie's  rough 
blue  skirt  and  crisp  white  waist.  Then  she 
turned  whimsically  to  her  sister. 

"  It  takes  all  sorts  to  make  a  world,"  she  mur- 
mured ;  "  but  even  my  zeal  would  ooze  out  before 
that  damsel.  I  wish  I  could  lay  my  hands  on 
the  miscreant  who  invented  that  particular  shade 
of  brown  dye." 

"  Sterling  qualities  and  a  sense  of  high  art 
don't  always  go  hand  in  hand  in  this  world," 
Mrs.  Farrington  returned.  "  But  what  eyes  the 
man  had,  Babe  !  " 

"  I  didn't  get  above  his  collar,"  Mrs.  Barrett 
answered  gloomily,  as  she  led  the  way  back  to 
the  car. 

But  the  car  was  slow  to  appear.  When  at  last 
it  started  towards  the  city  again,  the  man  and 


22  URSULAS  FRESHMAN 

the  girl  were  in  it  and  seated  opposite  to  Mrs. 
Barrett  who  eyed  them  askance  in  the  intervals 
of  her  talk  with  the  others. 

"  Oh,  I'm  glad  we  are  going  back  again,"  the 
girl  said  eagerly,  as  the  car  moved  off. 

"  Don't  you  like  the  sea  ?  " 

She  shook  her  head. 

"  It's  not  so  good  as  the  city.  I  like  the  stir 
and  the  seeing  new  people." 

"  But  the  sun  on  the  waves,  and  the  splash 
against  the  rocks,  and  the  white  sails  !  "  the  man 
urged,  peering  into  the  skillet  which  he  still  car- 
ried in  his  hand. 

The  girl  laughed,  showing  her  small,  even 
teeth  and  a  dimple  in  her  right  cheek. 

"  But  they  aren't  in  there,  father.  And  what 
would  mother  say,  if  she  could  see  the  mud  on 
your  shoes  and  your  cuffs  all  soaking  wet  ?  " 

He  glanced  anxiously  at  his  demoralized  cloth- 
ing, and  changed  the  position  of  the  skillet  that 
was  leaking  lazily  down  his  trouser-leg.  Then 
his  eyes  brightened. 

"  She  would  say  it  was  worth  something  to 
turn  into  a  child  again.  I  used  to  dig  clams,  the 
summer  I  was  eleven,  and  I've  never  seen  the 
salt  water  since  then.  By  George,  child,  it 
would  make  a  boy  of  me,  if  I  were  to  spend  a 
summer  by  the  sea !  " 


URSULAS  FRESHMAN  23 

The  girl's  eyes  widened.  She  had  never  before 
heard  her  father  use  so  near  an  approach  to  pro- 
fanity ;  neither  had  she  seen  him  so  reckless  in 
the  matter  of  his  cuffs.  In  the  recesses  of  her 
heart,  she  rejoiced  that  the  next  day  would  see 
them  safely  on  their  way  to  New  York. 

"  And  so  you  like  the  cities  best,"  her  father 
was  saying.  "  You  have  seen  a  good  many  of 
them  on  the  way  east.  Can  you  remember  them 
all  ?  " 

This  was  the  signal  for  the  review  lesson  in 
geography  which  must  be  recited  at  least  twice 
a  day,  and  the  girl  answered  to  it  promptly. 

"Cedar  Kapids,  Burlington,  Chicago,  Cleve- 
land." Then  she  broke  off  abruptly.  "  Why 
didn't  you  go  to  Yale,  father  ?  " 

"  I  couldn't  afford  it." 

"  But  you  went  to  college." 

"  Yes.     To  Dartmouth." 

"  You  could  afford  that." 

"It  is  a  little  college,  and  it  doesn't  cost  so 
much,"  he  explained. 

"  Was  it  as  good  ?  " 

"N-no." 

"  Then  why  didn't  you  come  to  Yale  ?  " 

"  Your  grandfather  was  a  poor  minister,  dear." 

"  But  you  earned  the  money,  yourself.  I've 
heard  you  say  so,  any  number  of  times." 


24  URSULAS  FRESHMAN 

The  man's  mind  flashed  backwards  over  dreary 
years  of  toiling  and  scrimping. 

"  Yes,"  he  assented. 

The  girl's  lips  straightened. 

"Then  why  didn't  you  earn  more?"  she  de- 
manded, with  the  uncompromising  bluntness  of 
youth.  "  If  I  were  going  to  do  it,  I  wouldn't 
stop  till  I  had  the  very  best  college  in  the 
country.  I  don't  want  any  half-way  things. 
And  yet,  you  know  more  than  any  other  man  I 
have  ever  seen,"  she  added  thoughtfully,  as  she 
tucked  her  baggy  gray  glove  into  the  hollow  of 
his  elbow.  "  I  suppose  that's  just  the  You  of  it. 
Wherever  you  went,  you'd  come  out  ahead." 

The  man  looked  down  at  her  and  smiled.  For 
a  moment,  there  lay  between  them  the  blissful 
silence  of  perfect  good-fellowship.  Then  the  girl 
spoke  again. 

"  Father,  isn't  that  a  student  over  there  ?  " 

Her  father's  eyes  twinkled,  as  he  saw  Kex's  ears 
turn  rosy  red. 

"  What  makes  you  think  so  ?  " 

"The  way  he  wears  his  cap,  and  he  looks  so 
sort  of  used  to  things.  I  shouldn't  wonder  if  he 
was  a  senior."  And  she  lapsed  into  silent  study 
of  Rex  Barrett,  quite  unconscious  of  the  smothered 
mirth  of  the  girl  in  the  blue  skirt,  who  had  been 
watching  her  with  merry,  mocking  eyes. 


URSULA'S  FRESHMAN  25 

The  car  was  whirring  along  above  the  tiny 
mallow-circled  lake,  before  the  girl  spoke  again. 
This  time,  the  brown  eyes  were  sorrowful. 

"A  week  from  to-night  is  going  to  be  our 
last  night  together  for  a  whole  year,"  she  said 
slowly. 

"  Yes."  The  man  tried  to  speak  briskly.  "  And 
then  I  shall  hurry  home  to  see  what  mother  has 
been  doing  without  us,  and  your  good  times  will 
begin." 

"  Perhaps  they  will  end,"  she  suggested. 

"  Not  homesick  already,  child  ?  " 

"  Ko ;  only  a  great  deal  scared.  I  feel  as  if  I 
were  stepping  off  from  the  end  of  something,  and 
didn't  know  where  I  might  land,"  she  returned. 
"  And  then  I  have  had  such  a  perfect  time  with 
you,  all  this  week.  I  never  had  such  a  good  time 
before,  nor  saw  so  many  new  things." 

"But  you  are  going  to  keep  on  seeing  new 
things." 

"  Not  with  you.     That  makes  a  difference." 

"  They  used  to  say  Sister  Ursula  and  I  were  a 
good  deal  alike,"  he  said  thoughtfully. 

"  I  hope  so ;  then  I  sha'n't  be  afraid  of  her. 
Of  course  I  want  to  go  there,  and  I  want  her  to 
like  me.  I  don't  want  to  be  invited  company ; 
I'd  like  best  to  be  just  one  of  the  family  and  not 
have  her  make  any  extra  fuss  for  me."  Then  the 


26  URSULA'S  FRESHMAN 

young  face  grew  earnest.  "  She  is  your  only 
sister,  father,  and  she  hasn't  any  daughter  of  her 
own.  While  I  stay  with  her,  I'd  love  to  be  just 
like  a  daughter  to  her.  But  what  do  you  sup- 
pose she  will  say,  when  she  sees  me  ?  " 

What  Aunt  Ursula  did  say  was  both  orthodox 
and  adequate.  Then  she  fled  to  her  own  room, 
beckoned  her  husband  to  follow  her,  and  locked 
the  door  noiselessly. 

"  Henry ! "  she  whispered  then.  "  Henry  !  " 
And  then,  "  Henry  Myers,  what  in  the  world 
am  I  to  do  with  that  Object  ?  " 


URSULA'S  FRESHMAN  27 


CHAPTER  THREE 

INASMUCH  as  Providence  had  ordained  that 
young  John  Myers  should  be  apparently  too 
indifferent  even  to  be  snobbish,  Mrs.  Myers 
promptly  ordained  that  her  young  son  should  be 
detailed  to  show  his  uncle  the  sights  of  the  town. 
Accordingly,  the  country  minister  and  the  city 
boy  inspected  all  things  from  the  Aquarium  to 
the  Eden  Musee,  and  from  the  Eden  Musee  to 
the  uttermost  confines  of  Bronx  Park.  The  boy 
was  taciturn  and  lacked  all  enthusiasm,  yet  his 
uncle  was  not  sorry  that  John,  rather  than  Mrs. 
Myers,  was  to  be  his  companion.  For  some  rea- 
son, he  felt  more  at  ease  in  the  presence  of  his 
nephew's  manifest  boredom  than  in  that  of  his 
sister's  sprightly  enthusiasm. 

For  sixteen  years,  the  brother  and  sister  had 
never  met.  The  brother  was  too  poor  to  take  so 
long  a  journey ;  the  sister  was  always  too  busy. 
They  had  exchanged  occasional  letters,  however, 
and  the  tone  of  the  letters  had  altered  but  little. 
Mr.  Thain  had  looked  for  no  disloyalty ;  in  con- 
sequence, he  had  found  none.  On  his  own  side, 


28  URSULA'S  FRESHMAN 

he  had  remained  true  to  the  ideal  which,  long 
since,  he  had  formed  of  his  sister.  Now  that  at 
last  they  were  face  to  face,  he  was  unable  to  tell 
just  wherein  she  differed  from  that  ideal,  yet  the 
difference  was  there,  and  it  irked  him.  For  some 
inexplicable  reason,  he  was  not  quite  at  ease  in 
her  society. 

"  I  really  think  I  am  very  generous,"  Mrs. 
Myers  said,  as  her  guests  sat  down  to  dinner,  the 
night  of  their  arrival.  "  I  am  going  to  let  John 
have  the  fun  of  prowling  about  with  his  uncle. 
John  is  an  affectionate  boy,  Irving.  You  don't 
know  how  he  has  counted  on  your  being  here." 
She  paused  to  give  her  son  a  smile  bright  enough 
to  temper  the  strictness  of  the  commands  which 
she  had  laid  upon  him,  while  his  uncle  was  re- 
moving the  dust  of  his  journey.  "  And  so  I 
shall  let  him  have  the  good  of  you,  the  next  few 
days,  and  Ursula  and  I  will  play  by  ourselves." 

And  Ursula,  wide-eyed  and  rather  homesick, 
smiled  faintly  in  assent,  as  she  stared  from  her 
gorgeous  little  aunt  to  the  evening  clothes  of  her 
uncle  whose  black  coat  was  as  shiny  as  that  of 
her  father,  although  from  a  different  reason. 
Then  she  roused  herself. 

"  No,  thank  you,  ma'am,"  she  said  to  the  trim 
damsel  who  stood  at  her  elbow  to  offer  her  a 
plate. 


URSULA'S  FRESHMAN  29 

Her  aunt's  brows  rose  and  fell  again,  only  for 
a  fraction  of  an  inch  ;  but  Ursula  saw  them,  saw 
the  answering  rise  of  the  corners  of  her  uncle's 
mouth.  Then  she  saw  nothing  more  until,  after 
a  moment  of  salty  misery,  she  resolutely  dabbed 
her  napkin  across  her  eyes,  choked  down  her 
sobs  and  devoted  herself  to  her  dinner  which  she 
accepted  in  detail  and  with  stony  indifference, 
though  she  only  nibbled  at  the  unknown  delica- 
cies which,  as  she  afterwards  confided  to  her 
father,  were  very  messy. 

At  nine  o'clock,  Ursula  dutifully  accepted  her 
aunt's  suggestion  of  bedtime.  However,  when 
Mr.  Thain  went  to  his  room,  two  hours  later,  he 
found  a  doleful  little  figure  huddled  into  a  chair 
behind  his  bed. 

"  Ursula  ?  "  he  said  in  surprise. 

In  another  minute,  her  head  was  on  his  shoul- 
der; her  sobs  came,  unchecked,  and  her  tears 
completed  the  wilting  of  his  home-laundered 
collar.  The  storm  lasted  only  for  a  minute 
or  two.  Then  Ursula  regained  her  self-control 
as  swiftly  as  she  had  lost  it.  She  straightened 
up  and  pushed  back  her  dark  hair,  ruffled  by  her 
father's  caressing  hand. 

"I  think  I  hate  my  Aunt  Ursula,"  she  said 
slowly.  "  She's  not  a  bit  like  you,  nor  like  any- 
body else  that  I  ever  set  eyes  on.  She  had  no 


30  URSULAS  FRESHMAN 

business  to  laugh  at  me.  How  could  I  know  she 
kept  a  hired  girl  just  to  hand  things  round  ?  I 
thought  she  was  somebody  visiting  here  that  was 
late  to  dinner — that  is,  as  much  as  I  thought 
anything  at  all." 

Mr.  Thain  tried  to  stem  the  tide  of  her  words. 

"  I  shouldn't  mind,  dear.  It  was  a  very  simple 
mistake." 

Ursula  raised  her  head  haughtily. 

"  It's  not  the  mistake.  I  don't  mind  that  one 
bit.  It  was  her  laughing  at  me  before  them  all, 
when  I'd  only  just  come.  I  never  can  like  her, 
and  I  never  will  like  her.  I'm  so  angry  that  I'm 
mad  and,  what's  more,  I  won't  stay  here  a  day 
longer  than  you  do." 

For  his  only  reply,  Mr.  Thain  raised  his  head 
and  looked  steadily  at  his  tempestuous  young 
daughter.  Ursula  had  met  that  look  before,  and 
she  hastened  to  amend  the  form  of  her  words. 

"  Or,  if  I  do,  I'll  teach  her  to  know  a  lady 
when  she  sees  one,"  she  added  vindictively. 

"  I  hope  you  will,"  was  her  father's  quiet  an- 
swer, and  it  was  not  until  some  time  after  they 
had  kissed  each  other  good-night  that  Ursula  be- 
gan to  suspect  the  full  import  of  his  words. 

If  Ursula  had  counted  too  literally  upon  her 
aunt's  suggestion  that  they  were  to  go  out 
together,  the  next  morning,  she  was  doomed  to 


URSULA'S  FRESHMAN  31 

disappointment.  Her  face  was  a  little  wishful,  as 
she  stared  out  of  the  front  window  at  the  retreat- 
ing backs  of  her  father  and  her  cousin ;  but  she 
resigned  herself  to  waiting  until  her  own  sum- 
mons came.  It  was  long  in  coming ;  but  at  last 
she  heard  her  aunt's  voice, — 

"Now,  Ursula?" 

She  started  alertly.  Then  her  face  fell,  for 
Mrs.  Myers  led  the  way,  not  to  the  street,  but  to 
her  own  room  where  the  next  half-hour  was 
given  up  to  a  tape  measure  and  a  memorandum 
book.  Then  Mrs.  Myers  rose. 

"That's  all,  child,  Now  take  good  care  of 
yourself,  and  don't  get  homesick,"  she  said,  with 
a  pecking  kiss  on  the  girl's  forehead.  "  You'll 
find  some  new  books  on  the  library  table,  and 
I'll  be  back  by  lunch-time." 

"But "  Ursula's  eyes  spoke  the  request 

which  her  lips  were  too  well-trained  to  utter. 

Mrs.  Myers's  glance  rested  for  an  instant  upon 
the  brown  skirt  and  magenta  bodice,  and  her 
shoulders  drew  together  ever  so  slightly.  Then 
she  smiled  and  shook  her  head. 

"I  want  you  to  rest,  this  morning,  child,  for 
you  must  be  very  tired  with  your  long  journey. 
This  afternoon,  we  are  going  out  together,  and 
you  must  keep  fresh  for  that.  Your  father  only 
has  a  week  here,  so  the  poor  man  must  keep 


32  URSULA'S  FRESHMAN 

moving ;  but  you  have  all  winter  ahead  of  you, 
so  you  can  take  your  own  time.  Good-bye,  child. 
You'd  much  better  go  down  to  the  library  and 
amuse  yourself  there." 

And  Ursula,  after  she  had  restored  order  to 
that  carefully-packed  wardrobe  which  her  aunt 
had  tossed  about  so  recklessly,  accepted  the 
advice  and  went  down-stairs.  As  she  had  hung 
up  her  two  or  three  gowns  and  smoothed  the 
roses  in  her  hat,  she  had  decided  that  her  aunt 
was  a  queer  sort  of  hostess,  and  had  sternly 
resolved  that  she  would  not  touch  a  single  book, 
all  that  morning.  Unfortunately,  her  resolve 
concerned  itself  with  such  shabby  black  volumes 
as  formed  the  body  of  her  father's  library  at 
home,  and  it  was  not  proof  against  the  enticing 
array  of  green  and  gold  books  that  she  found 
awaiting  her.  Ursula  fell  upon  the  nearest  story 
with  the  appetite  of  a  healthy  girl,  and  she  looked 
up  in  astonishment,  when  her  aunt  appeared  in 
the  doorway  to  mention  that  luncheon  was  ready. 
She  dropped  her  book  and  came  forward  with  the 
first  touch  of  naturalness  that  her  aunt  had  seen, 
and  in  return  Ursula  discovered  in  her  aunt's  eyes 
the  first  suggestion  of  any  natural  liking  for  her 
self-imposed  charge. 

"Come  up-stairs,  Ursula,"  her  aunt  said,  as 
they  left  the  table. 


URSULA'S  FRESHMAN  33 

Ursula's  glance  moved  after  her  father  to  the 
door  of  the  library ;  then,  reluctantly,  she  fol- 
lowed Mrs.  Myers  back  to  her  room.  On  the 
threshold  she  halted,  astonished,  for  the  bed  was 
heaped  with  clothing,  and  three  or  four  hats  lay 
on  the  dressing-table. 

"  I  had  two  or  three  things  of  a  kind  sent  up, 
so  I  could  see  what  looked  best  on  you,"  her 
aunt  observed  in  a  matter-of-course  tone,  much  as 
Mrs.  Thain  might  have  alluded  to  sample  cakes 
of  laundry  soap  or  boxes  of  matches.  "  We'll  pick 
out  a  couple  of  these,  and  then  we  can  get  the 
other  things  at  our  leisure." 

"Yes,  only "  Ursula  gasped  a  little  as 

she  looked  down  at  her  bunchy  skirt,  and  her 
color  came.  She  and  her  mother  had  given 
much  thought  and,  it  seemed  to  them,  an  undue 
allowance  of  money  to  the  choice  of  that  costume. 
The  bodice  had  been  of  home  construction ;  but 
the  jacket  and  skirt  had  come  from  the  show 
window  of  the  best  department  store  in  Jenk- 
inton,  the  best,  because  it  chanced  to  be  the 
only  one. 

Mrs.  Myers  interpreted  aright  the  glance  and 
the  flush,  and  she  spoke  with  unwonted  tact. 

"You'll  need  more  gowns  here,  Ursula,  than 
you  did  at  home,  you  know." 

And,    independent    though    she   was,   Ursula 


34  URSULAS  FRESHMAN 

yielded.  There  followed  an  exciting  hour  of 
the  slipping  on  and  off  of  softer,  daintier  fabrics 
than  Ursula  had  ever  known,  of  turning  this  way 
and  that,  of  walking  up  and  down  before  her 
aunt's  critical  gaze.  At  last,  Mrs.  Myers  breathed 
a  sigh  of  complete  satisfaction. 

"Once  more  across  the  room.  Now  turn 
slowly.  Yes,  I  thought  that  would  be  the  very 
thing.  Later,  you'll  need  a  brown  fur  collar. 
You  will  walk  better  by  and  by,  too.  Can't 
you  forget  that  you  have  any  knees  ?  " 

"  Ma'am  ?  "  Ursula  faltered  in  surprise. 

"  I  beg  your  pardon,  Aunt  Ursula,"  her  aunt 
corrected  gently. 

"  Wha-at  ?  "  The  syllable  was  very  broad  and 
flat,  for  Ursula  began  to  have  fears  lest  her  aunt 
was  mentally  deranged. 

Mrs.  Myers  drew  a  long  breath,  and  eyed  this 
incorrigible  young  person  cornerwise  to  see  if 
her  impertinence  were  intentional,  or  merely  the 
result  of  accident.  After  she  had  halted  for  a 
time  between  the  two  opinions,  she  decided  to 
leave  that  matter  in  abeyance  and,  rising,  she 
led  the  way  to  the  tall  mirror  in  her  own  room. 

"  There  !  What  do  you  think  of  that  ?  "  she 
demanded  triumphantly. 

Ursula  looked,  her  eyes  widening,  her  color 
deepening,  her  whole  face  brightening  with 


URSULAS  FRESHMAN  35 

pleasure  at  the  sight.  It  was  all  very  simple :  a 
skirt  and  jacket  of  the  darkest  possible  shade  of 
brown,  a  blouse  of  the  same  color  barred  with 
threads  of  tawny  yellow,  and  a  dark  brown  felt 
hat  bound  with  the  breast  of  a  golden  pheasant. 
There  was  not  a  fold  of  trimming,  not  a  line  of 
ornamentation  such  as  Ursula  had  known  and 
loved  from  her  childhood.  Nevertheless,  as  she 
stared  back  at  her  own  reflection,  she  told  her- 
self that  it  was  good,  infinitely  better,  even,  than 
the  ornate  magenta  bodice.  In  some  vague 
fashion,  it  reminded  her  of  the  blue-skirted  girl 
she  had  seen  in  the  car.  She  sighed  contentedly. 
Then  she  gave  voice  to  her  content. 

"  "Well ! "  she  said  slowly,  as  she  turned  this 
way  and  that.  "  Well !  I  always  supposed  I 
was  yellow  and  dumpy.  This  doesn't  make  me 
look  so  a  bit." 

Her  aunt  smiled. 

"  And  we  will  keep  the  blue  for  best,  and  the 
broad  black  hat,"  she  said,  while  she  untied  the 
blue  satin  ribbon  on  Ursula's  hair  and  replaced  it 
with  a  black  bow.  "  The  other  things  may  as 
well  go  back,  this  afternoon." 

"  For  best  ?  " 

"Yes.  You  will  need  this  to  put  right  on, 
every  day." 

"  But  I've  my  light  brown  one,  the  one  that  I 


36  URSULA'S  FRESHMAN 

just  took  off ;  and  there's  the  green  for  morn- 
ings." 

For  the  space  of  five  minutes,  Mrs.  Myers's  face 
became  as  inexpressive  as  a  blank  wall,  as  red  as 
the  bricks  of  which  the  wall  was  constructed. 
Then  she  smiled  again. 

"  Do  you  know  what  I  think  would  be  a  very 
nice  thing  for  you  to  do  ?  " 

"  What's  that  ?  "  Ursula  demanded  suspiciously. 

"  Send  back  those  to  Molly."  Mrs.  Myers's 
tone  was  velvet-like  in  its  smoothness.  "They 
would  be — nice  for  you  to  have,  of  course ;  but 
you  won't  really  need  them,  with  these  two  new 
ones." 

"Then  why  don't  you  send  back  the  new 
ones  ?  "  Ursula  asked  sharply,  with  a  swift  recol- 
lection of  her  lessons  in  Virgil.  Those  silk-lined 
jacket  sleeves  might,  for  all  she  knew,  be  as 
stuffed  with  treachery  as  was  the  wooden  steed 
of  Troy. 

Mrs.  Myers  was  politic. 

"  Aren't  you  to  be  my  adopted  daughter  for  a 
year ;  and  don't  mothers  always  buy  pretty  gowns 
for  their  daughters  ?  " 

"  Yes.  My  mother  did."  Ursula's  accent  was 
uncompromising,  and  Mrs.  Myers  began  to  fear 
lest  her  niece  shared  Mrs.  Thain's  color-blindness. 

"  But  why  won't  you  let  me  do  it,  too  ?  " 


URSULA'S  FRESHMAN  37 

"  Because  you  say,  yourself,  that  I  don't  need 
so  many  clothes." 

Mrs.  Myers  felt  that  she  had  been  caught  in 
her  own  trap,  and  she  was  forced  to  pause  and 
seek  for  a  way  out.  She  feared  to  antagonize 
the  girl  at  the  start,  since  she  was  well  ac- 
quainted with  the  temper  of  the  Thains  and  with 
their  pride. 

"  Perhaps  I  ought  to  have  said  that  you  don't 
need  just  the  same  kind  of  clothes,"  she  sug- 
gested. 

"  Why  not  ?  " 

"  You  will  go  out  more,  for  one  thing." 

"  I've  my  brown  coat." 

"  Yes  ;  but  isn't  this  prettier  ?  "  Gently  she 
turned  Ursula  towards  the  mirror ;  but  her  very 
gentleness  went  against  the  girl's  grain.  It  was 
the  gentleness  of  infinite  patience,  not  of  love. 

There  was  no  answer.  Mrs.  Myers  picked  up 
the  magenta  bodice  and  held  it  between  Ursula 
and  the  mirror. 

"  Which  is  prettier  ?  "  she  repeated. 

The  girl  frowned.  Then  she  answered  hon- 
estly,— 

"  This  is." 

"  Then  why  not  send  the  other  things  to  Molly, 
and  keep  these  ?  " 

"  I  don't  think  it's  right." 


38  URSULA'S  FRESHMAN 

"  Not  if  Molly  needs  them,  and  you  don't  ?  " 

"  Maybe  I  shall  need  them ;  maybe  Molly 
doesn't.  Molly  has  things  of  her  own."  For 
the  moment,  it  was  Mrs.  Thain  who  was  speak- 
ing through  the  lips  of  her  daughter. 

"But  you  are  to  have  these  new  ones  any- 
way," Mrs.  Myers  said  rebukingly.  "  You 
ought  to  be  willing  to  let  Molly  have  the  ones 
you  can't  use." 

"  "Why  can't  I  use  them  ?  "  Ursula's  tone  was 
haughty. 

"Because "  Mrs.  Myers  saw  the  critical 

moment  approaching  fast ;  but  she  was  power- 
less to  avoid  it.  "  Because — they — are  not  quite 
— suitable." 

With  an  angry  wrench  Ursula  pulled  off  the 
new  jacket  and  threw  it  on  the  bed  where  it  lay 
with  its  arms  outstretched  as  if  praying  to  be 
taken  up  again.  The  hat  followed  it.  Then, 
with  flashing  eyes,  the  girl  turned  upon  Mrs. 
Myers. 

"I  know  what  you  mean  now,"  she  said 
fiercely.  "  You  mean  they  aren't  genteel  enough 
for  you.  I  don't  know  as  they  are.  I  don't 
know  as  I  am,  myself ;  but  I  can't  help  it.  You 
ran  the  risk  of  all  that,  when  you  asked  me  to 
come  here.  You  might  have  known.  I  know 
what  my  mother  paid  for  that  suit  of  mine ;  I 


URSULAS  FRESHMAN  39 

know  that  she  went  without  some  things  she 
wanted,  so  she  could  give  it  to  me.  If  you  think 
that,  after  all  that,  just  as  soon  as  I  get  here  and 
get  hold  of  something  a  little  finer,  I'm  going  to 
do  it  up  in  a  bundle  and  send  it  back  to  her  and 
tell  her  it's  not  good  enough  to  wear,  why,  you're 
very  much  mistaken,  and  you  may  as  well  know 
it  first  as  last." 

Burning  with  anger,  with  injured  pride  and 
with  loyalty  to  her  mother,  Ursula  had  neglected 
to  take  into  account  the  open  door  and  her  own 
rising  voice.  Still  facing  the  mirror,  she  raised 
her  eyes  to  see,  over  her  own  shoulder,  the  gen- 
tle, anxious  face  of  her  father  side  by  side  with 
her  angry  one. 

"  Ursula ! "  he  said  quietly.  And  then,  "  Ur- 
sula, I  think  you  would  better  pick  up  your  hat 
and  coat,  and  carry  them  into  your  own  room." 


40  URSULA'S  FRESHMAN 


CHAPTEK  FOUR 

"T3UT  why  not,   I    should  like  to  know?" 

-I— J     Ursula  demanded. 

"  Because  I  don't  care  to,"  John  Myers  replied 
primly. 

"  But  why  don't  you  care  ?  "  Ursula  persisted. 

"I  don't  know.  I  suppose  because  it  makes 
you  get  all  heated  up  and  untidy." 

Ursula's  step  lost  its  rhythmic  beat,  as  she  eyed 
her  young  cousin  askance. 

"  And  you  call  yourself  a  boy  ?  "  The  accent 
was  provokingly  deliberate. 

"  Of  course.     Why  not  ?  " 

"Because  you  aren't.  You're  nothing  but  an 
old  maid.  The  idea  of  not  liking  baseball !  It's 
such  fun ! " 

"  How  do  you  know  ?  " 

"For  the  simple  reason  that  I  used  to  play 
with  my  little  brothers  and  their  friends,  when 
there  weren't  enough  boys.  You  ought  to  see 
some  of  the  strikes  I've  made  !  "  Ursula  swung 
an  imaginary  bat  in  a  swift,  sure  arc  before  her. 

John  glanced  apprehensively  over  his  shoulder. 


URSULAS  FRESHMAN  41 

"Won't — won't  you  drop  your  parcel?"  he 
asked  suggestively. 

«  My ?  Oh,  my  bundle  ?  Well,  what  of 

it?  I  can  pick  it  up  again,"  she  responded  in 
blithe  unconsciousness  of  the  shivers  which  were 
coursing  up  and  down  the  decorous  spine  of  her 
cousin.  "  And  the  sliding  bases  !  " 

If  she  expected  her  cousin  to  smile  in  sym- 
pathy with  her  own  jolly  laugh,  she  was  disap- 
pointed. Instead,  he  merely  inquired, — 

"  And  did  your  mother  let  you  ?  " 

"  I  never  asked  her ;  I  just  did  it,"  Ursula  re- 
turned tranquilly.  "  She  wouldn't  have  minded, 
though ;  only  once,  when  I  tried  to  make  a  base, 
and  tore  out  all  the  front  of  my  skirt  on  a  snaggy 
rock,  she  made  me  mend  it,  myself." 

"  Don't  you  like  to  sew  ?  " 

The  vehemence  of  her  answer  nearly  took  his 
breath  away. 

"  No ;  I  hate  it."  Then  she  laughed.  "  But 
she  didn't  ask  me,  any  more  than  I  asked  her  if  I 
might  play  ball.  I  had  torn  it,  and  she  said  I 
must  mend  it.  I'm  sure  that  was  fair  enough. 
The  worst  of  it  was,  the  gown  was  faded,  and  I 
only  had  some  new  cloth  to  mend  it  with,  so,  all 
that  year,  I  had  to  wear  the  skirt  with  a  great 
patch  of  another  color,  all  over  the  front 
breadth." 


42  URSULAS  FEESHMAN 

This  was  within  the  limits  of  John's  under- 
standing, and  he  said  sympathetically, — 

"  "Why  didn't  you  get  another  dress  ?  " 

Ursula  flushed;  then  she  shrugged  ii3r 
shoulders. 

"  Where  I  came  from,  new  clothes  don't  grow 
on  bushes." 

"  They  don't  here.  I  wish  they  did,  and  I'd 
go  out  picking,  every  morning.  But  you're  the 
first  girl  I  ever  heard  of  that  played  ball." 

"  And  you  are  the  first  boy  I  ever  heard  of 
that  didn't,"  she  retorted. 

There  was  a  scornful  cadence  to  the  words, 
and  it  exasperated  him. 

"  I  don't  see  that  there's  any  reason  I  should," 
he  said  morosely.  "I  just  don't  care  for  it; 
that's  all." 

"  What  do  you  care  for  ?  " 

"Books." 

"  To  read,  or  to  study  ?  " 

"Both." 

"Honestly?" 

"Yes." 

She  looked  at  him  for  a  minute ;  then  she 
lifted  her  chin  and  puckered  her  lips,  as  if  to 
crowd  her  laugh  back  into  her  swelling  cheeks. 
At  last  it  Lurst  out,  hearty  and  ringing. 

"  Oh,  don't ! "  John  protested  hastily. 


URSULAS  FRESHMAN  43 

"  Don't  what  ?  " 

"Don't  be  so  noisy  on  the  street.  Mother 
wouldn't  like  it  at  all." 

Ursula's  step  lagged  again  as,  with  dimpling 
cheeks  and  mocking  eyes,  she  surveyed  her  cousin. 

"  I  said  you  were  an  old  maid  ;  but  that  wasn't 
nearly  strong  enough.  You're  a  mummy." 

"  I  don't  think  you're  very  polite,"  he  returned. 
"  Next  time,  I  won't  invite  you  to  go  to  walk 
with  me." 

"  You  didn't,  this  time.  I  invited  myself,"  she 
replied  composedly. 

Even  the  patience  of  a  mummy  has  its  limits, 
and  John's  bad  temper  was  refreshingly  boylike 
and  normal,  as  he  snapped, — 

"Well,  I  didn't  want  you,  and  I  wish  you 
hadn't  come." 

Without  moving  her  head,  she  turned  her  brown 
eyes  towards  his  determined  profile. 

"Truthfully,  Jackie?" 

"  You  bet  I  do  !  " 

The  answer  was  scarcely  that  of  conventional 
courtesy ;  yet  Ursula  liked  the  lapse  from  de- 
corum. Nevertheless,  she  felt  that  he  needed  a 
rebuke,  and  she  gave  it  to  him  in  one  of  his  own 
favorite  phrases. 

"  Oh,  John,  you  shouldn't.  You  know  Aunt 
Ursula  wouldn't  like  you  to  say  you  bet." 


44  URSULA'S  FRESHMAN 

Her  irony  escaped  him. 

"  Maybe  she  wouldn't,"  he  muttered ;  "  but 
you're  enough  to  make  a  saint  swear." 

For  the  moment,  Ursula's  amusement  led  her 
to  forget  her  role  of  injured  propriety,  and  she 
answered  promptly, — 

"  Then  you're  no  saint,  for  let  certainly  isn't 
swearing." 

John  opened  his  lips ;  then  prudently  he  re- 
frained from  uttering  the  thoughts  that  moved 
him.  They  walked  on  in  silence,  he  determined, 
she  amused.  At  the  end  of  the  second  block,  she 
glanced  at  him  furtively,  then  edged  a  trifle 
nearer  to  his  side.  Her  eyes  were  gleaming; 
but  her  accent  was  pathetic. 

"  You  aren't  going  to  be  cross  to  me ;  are  you, 
Cousin  Jackie  ?  " 

As  a  matter  of  principle,  John  disapproved  of 
Ursula ;  nevertheless,  for  some  inscrutable  cause, 
he  liked  to  hear  her  call  him  Jackie,  perhaps  be- 
cause it  was  the  first  time  in  his  life  that  he  had 
ever  been  called  anything  but  respectable,  formal 
John.  Moreover,  he  was  dimly  aware  that,  in 
spite  of  her  idiosyncrasies,  his  young  cousin  was 
fast  becoming  a  most  presentable  young  person, 
and  that  she  added  a  flavor  of  piquancy  to  the 
humdrum  decorum  of  their  family  life. 

It  was  five  weeks,  now,  since  Ursula  had  seen, 


URSULA'S  FRESHMAN  45 

through  tear-dim  eyes,  her  father's  train  move 
away  from  the  station  at  Forty-Second  Street. 
She  had  come  out  of  the  station,  not  caring  espe- 
cially whether  she  found  her  way  into  her  aunt's 
carriage  or  into  the  nearest  subway  excavation. 
She  was  alone,  stranded,  unhappy.  Nothing 
mattered  much  now.  For  two  or  three  daj^s,  the 
transplanted  life  drooped  visibly.  Then  Ursula's 
temperament  and  training  reasserted  themselves. 
Sulking  in  corners  never  did  any  good.  She 
would  shut  her  teeth  and  make  the  best  of  things. 
Nevertheless,  the  quaint,  gossipful  letters  she 
sent  home  were  blistered  and  blotted  here  and 
there,  though  not  a  word  of  discontent  came 
from  her  pen.  Ursula  had  seen  with  her  own 
eyes  that  her  father  would  be  hurt  by  any  criti- 
cism of  his  lady  sister  whose  patronizing  attitude 
towards  himself  he  was  too  simple-hearted  to 
understand. 

Ursula,  for  her  part,  was  shrewd ;  moreover, 
she  was  free  from  all  preconceived  notions.  She 
weighed  the  Myers  family  in  the  same  balance 
she  would  have  used  for  any  strangers.  She  de- 
cided that  Mr.  Myers  was  as  futile  in  his  domestic 
relations  as  he  was  successful  in  the  business 
world.  Mrs.  Myers  was  more  of  a  problem,  for 
she  was  strong  of  character,  and  her  standards 
were  unlike  any  with  which  the  girl  had  ever  be- 


46  URSULAS  FRESHMAN 

fore  come  in  contact.  She  was  uniformly  kind 
and  generous,  lax  of  discipline,  and  critical  of  all 
points  of  manner  and  speech.  But,  to  Ursula's 
mind,  John  Myers  was  a  constant  source  of  fun, 
and  she  made  the  most  of  him. 

Of  course,  he  resented  her  teasing ;  of  course, 
he  rebelled,  when  she  waved  aside  his  pompous 
young  opinions.  He  thought  her  bumptious  and 
intolerable  ;  nevertheless,  he  took  the  same  pleas- 
ure in  her  society  that  one  gets  from  biting  ten- 
tatively upon  an  aching  tooth.  On  one  occasion, 
he  had  criticized  her  until  she  had  taken  venge- 
ance by  ignoring  his  existence  for  some  days. 
He  was  careful  never  to  repeat  the  experiment. 
Now,  accordingly,  he  yielded  to  her  cajolery. 

"  Not  if  you  behave  yourself." 

"  I  will  be  good,"  she  said  meekly.  "  It's  such 
a  bother  to  keep  fighting,  all  the  time,  and  you're 
the  only  person  I  know  in  New  York." 

"  What  about  my  father  and  mother  ? "  he 
asked  literally. 

"Oh,  I  mean  person  young  enough  to  fight 
with.  And  there's  no  variety  in  fighting  with 
you ;  you  always  go  at  it  in  just  the  same  way. 
Why,  at  home  Irving  was  only  twelve,  and  I 
could  get  lots  more  bites  out  of  him  than  I  can 
out  of  you.  You're  like  a  cow  with  only  one 
horn." 


URSULA'S  FRESHMAN  47 

Ursula's  metaphor  was  neither  unmixed  nor 
complimentary,  and  it  nettled  her  companion. 
She  chose  to  disregard  his  annoyance,  however, 
and  she  nonchalantly  changed  the  subject. 

"  Who  is  Nathalie  Arterburn  ?  " 

"  Why  ?  " 

"  Your  mother  is  everlastingly  quoting  her,  and 
I  get  so  tired  of  her  that  I'd  like  never  to  hear 
her  name  again.1' 

"  There  are  others,"  John  observed  dryly. 

"  Who  is  she,  anyway  ?  " 

"  She  is  a  girl  from  the  country " 

"  Just  like  me,"  Ursula  interpolated ;  "  so  you 
needn't  take  that  top-lof tical  tone,  when  you  talk 
to  me  about  her." 

John  shut  his  mouth  tightly,  resolving  that 
wild  horses  should  not  drag  it  open  again. 

"  Well,  go  on,"  Ursula  commanded. 

"I  thought  you  didn't  like  what  I  was  say- 
ing." 

"  I  didn't  like  the  way  you  were  saying  it ;  but 
that's  no  reason  you  should  turn  into  an  oyster. 
She  is  a  girl  from  the  country  - 

"  That  the  Gifford  Barretts  took  up,  a  year  or 
so  ago." 

"  Who  are  the  Gifford  Barretts  ?  " 

"  Great  swells,  who  live  on  the  top  of  things." 

"  Friends  of  yours  ?  "  she  asked  shrewdly. 


48  URSULA'S  FRESHMAN 

"  N-not  exactly." 

"  But  I  thought  you  were  on  the  top  of  things," 
Ursula  said  a  little  mercilessly. 

"  So  we  are.  We  know  the  Barretts,  of  course, 
only  we  aren't  at  all  intimate." 

"Hm!  But  I  suppose  you'd  like  to  be.  Is 
that  it  ?  " 

"  I  don't  care  about  it.  Kingsley  Barrett,  that 
is,  Kex,  is  a  perfect  dunce." 

"  Then  what  makes  Aunt  Ursula  want  you  to 
know  him,  when  you  get  into  Yale  ?  " 

"  I  don't  know."  His  accent  was  that  of  utter 
indifference. 

"  To  hear  her  talk,  you'd  think  he  was  the  only 
boy  in  this  city,"  Ursula  commented  reflectively. 
"  And  I  do  get  tired  of  hearing  about  this  Nathalie 
Arterburn.  Is  she  nice  ?  " 

"  I've  never  spoken  to  her.  She  and  Rex  are 
great  cronies,  and  she  was  abroad  with  the  Bar- 
retts, last  year.  Mr.  Barrett  is  a  composer." 

"I  wasn't  asking  about  the  Barretts.  I 
was  asking  about  Nathalie  Arterburn.  Is  she 
pretty  ?  " 

"  Stunning  !  "  Again  the  inherent  boyishness 
came  uppermost,  and  again  Ursula  approved  of 
her  cousin. 

"  How  old  is  she  ?  " 

"  Seventeen  or  eighteen,  I  should  say." 


URSULA'S  FRESHMAN  49 

"  Does  Aunt  Ursula  know  her  ?  " 

"No;  but  I  suppose  she  knows  the  brother. 
He  was  named  for  ray  father." 

The  idea  caught  Ursula's  fancy,  and  she 
laughed. 

"  He  was  named  for  Uncle  Henry,  and  I  was 
named  for  Aunt  Ursula.  What  relation  does 
that  make  him  to  me,  I  wonder  ?  " 

Once  more  John  turned  literal. 

"  He  is  no  relation.  His  father  and  mine  went 
to  school  together  at  Exeter." 

"  I  know  that,"  Ursula  said  impatiently ;  "  but, 
if  he  is  named  for  a  man,  and  I  am  named  for 
that  man's  wife,  there  must  be  some  sort  of  a 
relationship  between  us.  Here  we  are  at  the 
Art  Museum.  Let's  come  in  and  take  a  look  at 
your  friends,  the  other  mummies." 

John  demurred ;  but  Ursula  had  her  way. 
Her  innate  love  of  the  beautiful,  starved  for 
fifteen  years,  had  already  learned  to  feast  upon 
the  contents  of  the  Museum,  and  she  snatched  a 
half-hour  there,  whenever  she  chanced  to  be  in 
its  vicinity.  Once  inside  the  turnstiles,  she 
wandered  about,  according  to  the  whim  of  the 
moment,  now  poring  over  the  cases  of  antique 
lace,  now  delighting  in  the  Oriental  potteries, 
now  strolling  along  the  galleries  of  paintings, 
exulting  in  the  wondrous  colors  with  a  catholic 


50  URSULA'S  FRESHMAN 

s L_ 

joy  which  embraced  all  things  from  Raphael  to 
Monet,  from  Yan  Dyck  to  Meissonier.  To-day, 
however,  she  steadfastly  turned  her  back  upon 
these  temptations,  and  with  unerring  step  led 
the  way  to  the  hall  where  the  mummies  repose 
beneath  their  shining  glass.  Beside  a  portly 
Barneses,  she  paused  and  beckoned  her  com- 
panion to  her  side. 

"  Now,  John,  come  and  see  your  friend.  He 
is  very  respectable,  almost  as  respectable  as  you 
are.  He  doesn't  look  as  if  he  had  ever  been 
shocked  in  his  life,  and  yet  his  knees  are  a  little 
bit  baggy.  Yours  wouldn't  be,  if  you  were  in  a 
glass  case." 

"  Oh,  keep  still ! "  John  protested.  "  You 
aren't  funny,  Ursula,  so  what  is  the  use  of  think- 
ing you  are  ?  He  is  dead,  and  it's  horrid  to  make 
fun  of  him." 

She  felt  the  rebuke  more  than  he  had  in- 
tended, and  she  flushed  hotly.  Then  she 
laughed. 

"  I'm  wasting  all  my  sermon  on  you,  Jackie ; 
but  you'd  better  take  it  to  heart.  No  matter 
how  precise  and  respectable  you  are,  there'll  be 
a  wrinkle  somewhere  or  other.  But,  if  you 
don't  love  the  mummies,  let's  go  up  into  the 
Franklin  room  and  look  at  Fifth  Cousin  Ben's 
picture  on  the  plates." 


URSULA'S  FRESHMAN  51 

With  more  gentleness  than  was  her  wont,  she 
moved  off  at  her  cousin's  side.  The  two  young 
people  never  looked  better  than  when  they  were 
together.  Totally  unlike,  each  acted  as  foil  to 
the  other,  the  boy  a  tall,  pale  blond,  heavy -lidded 
and  with  the  appearance  of  almost  aggressive  re- 
finement of  face  and  bearing,  the  girl  slender 
and  brown  and  dainty,  her  step  alert,  her  eyes 
flashing  with  merriment.  John's  calmness 
amounted  to  languor ;  Ursula  was  an  embodied 
tempest.  They  were  bound  to  strike  fire  con- 
tinually ;  but,  as  a  rule,  the  sparks  died  out  upon 
the  air,  and  through  constant  friction  they  were 
slowly  working  their  way  down  to  a  basis  of 
good  understanding,  of  mutual  tolerance.  Five 
weeks  before,  Ursula  would  not  have  accepted 
her  cousin's  rebuke.  The  weeks  had  taught  her 
that  his  faults  were  largely  faults  of  training, 
that  at  heart  the  boy  was  of  good  material. 

As  they  passed  along  through  gallery  after 
gallery,  loitering  here,  halting  there,  Ursula 
caught  sight  of  a  young  girl  standing  before  a 
row  of  Dutch  paintings.  At  first  Ursula's  eyes, 
attracted  by  the  fluffy  golden  hair  which  stood 
out  in  sharp  contrast  to  the  dull  background, 
rested  upon  her  indifferently.  Then,  as  the  girl 
turned  her  face  in  the  direction  of  their  echoing 
steps,  their  eyes  met,  and  Ursula  gave  a  half 


52  URSULA'S  FRESHMAN 

smile  of  recognition.  It  was  the  girl  she  had 
seen  in  the  street  car,  dressed  now  in  green  from 
head  to  foot,  yet  unmistakably  the  girl  in  the 
blue  skirt,  and,  to  Ursula's  eyes,  looking  as 
comely  and  happy  and  altogether  attractive  as 
ever. 

At  Ursula's  start  of  recognition,  she  slightly 
raised  her  yellow  brows  in  surprise,  and  turned 
away.  It  was  impossible  that  in  the  brown- 
gowned  girl,  as  dainty  and  trim  as  herself,  she 
could  recognize  the  bunchy  child  whose  hideous 
clothing  had  roused  both  her  repulsion  and  her 

Pity- 
Ursula's  face  had  fallen,  and  she  dejectedly 

followed  her  cousin  out  of  the  gallery.  There 
was  no  especial  reason  that  the  girl  should  have 
recognized  her ;  yet  Ursula,  loyal  to  the  memory 
of  that  yellow  hair,  would  have  given  much  for 
the  sake  of  a  smile  in  answer  to  her  own. 
Vaguely  disappointed,  she  was  silent  for  a  time. 
Then,  as  they  turned  to  leave  the  Franklin  room, 
she  broke  the  silence. 

"  Did  you  notice  that  girl  we  passed  ?  " 

"Which  girl?" 

"  The  one  in  green,  with  yellow  hair." 

"  Yes." 

"  Who  is  she  ?  " 

"  How  should  I  know  ?  " 


URSULA'S  FRESHMAN  53 

She  saw  he  was  bent  upon  teasing  her,  and  her 
reiterated  question  was  a  little  impatient. 

"You  do  know.     Who  is  she,  Jack ? " 

"  What  makes  you  want  to  know  ?  " 

"Because  I've  seen  her  before." 

"  Where  ?  " 

"  In  a  New  Haven  street  car,  the  day  before  I 
came  here.  I  should  know  her  again  in  Egypt." 

"  Don't  be  too  sure.  You  may  not  strike 
Egypt,  the  same  season." 

"  Do  stop  teasing,"  she  begged  him.  "  Who  is 
she,  Jack  ?  " 

"  She  is  Nathalie  Arterburn." 

"  Oh-h !  "  It  was  a  long-drawn  syllable.  "  Why 
didn't  you  tell  me  ?  " 

John  smiled  down  on  her  patronizingly. 

"  Because  you  had  just  said  you  were  so  tired 
of  her  that  you  never  wanted  to  hear  her  name 
again." 


54  URSULAS  FRESHMAN 


CHAPTER  FIYE 

IN  one  of  the  smallest  apartments  to  be  found 
in  the  city  of  New  York,  Harry  Arterburn 
sat  frowning  into  his  coffee  cup.  From  across 
the  table  his  sister  watched  him,  half  in  anxiety, 
half  in  amusement. 

"  How  often  must  I  tell  you,  Hal,"  she  said  at 
length  ;  "  that  it  is  extremely  unbecoming  to  you 
to  scowl  so  ?  I  do  wish  you  would  relieve  my 
feelings  by  telling  me  which  is  bad,  your  coffee 
or  your  correspondence." 

His  face  cleared  a  little,  as  it  never  failed  to 
do  at  his  sister's  bidding. 

"It's  this  confounded  letter.  I  don't  know 
what  to  do  about  it,"  he  answered. 

"  What  is  it  ?  " 

He  tossed  it  across  the  table  with  such  un- 
erring aim  that  it  fell  exactly  into  her  saucer  of 
oatmeal.  She  picked  it  up,  dripping,  and  pointed 
rebukingly  to  the  milky  crest  on  the  flap  of  the 
envelope. 

"How  can  you  have  so  little  respect  for 
aristocracy,  Harry?  This  ought  to  be  handed 


URSULA'S  FRESHMAN  55 

about  on  a  silver  salver  by  a  man  in  but- 
tons." 

"  What  shall  we  do  about  it,  Nathalie  ?  " 

His  tone  showed  that  he  was  really  disturbed, 
and  without  more  ado  she  opened  the  letter  in 
her  hand.  She  read  it  from  end  to  end.  Then 
she  raised  her  eyes  to  his. 

"  What  shall  we  do  ?  "  he  repeated. 

"  Don't,"  she  advised  him  quietly. 

"  What  do  you  mean  ?  " 

Her  reply  came  promptly. 

"  Better  is  a  dinner  of  Bent  biscuit  and  sage 
cheese  where  independence  is,  than  peacocks  and 
cream  with  Mrs.  Myers." 

"  Then  you  think  ?  " 

"  That,  as  Kex  says,  it's  up  to  her.  When  we 
first  came  here,  she  never  came  near  us.  I  don't 
know  that  I  care  to  go  to  her  now." 

Harry  Arterburn's  laugh  cleared  the  frown 
from  his  face  and  showed  him  for  what  he  really 
was,  an  uncommonly  attractive  man  of  the  later 
twenties. 

"  No  especial  use  in  getting  spunky  about  it, 
chum,"  he  admonished  her. 

"  Of  course  not.  She  isn't  worth  the  trouble. 
Still,  she  might  have  helped  us  a  good  deal,  two 
years  ago." 

"  She  did  get  the  apartment  for  us." 


56  URSULAS  FRESHMAN 

"  Yes ;  but  she  never  came  near  it,  when  once 
we  were  inside  it.  Before  I  knew  Mrs.  Bar- 
rett, I  should  have  been  so  glad  to  know  her. 
Wow  I  don't  care." 

Harry  stirred  his  coffee  thoughtfully. 

"  I'm  not  so  sure  she  could  have  helped  us,"  he 
said  slowly. 

"  Mrs.  Barrett  did." 

"  Mrs.  Barrett  could  ;  she  is  more  human.  But, 
from  all  I  hear,  I  don't  believe  Mrs.  Myers  be- 
longs to  our  kind  of  people." 

"  I  should  hope  not,"  Nathalie  said  flatly.  "  I 
never  saw  her  but  once,  and  that  was  from  afar ; 
but  then  she  seemed  to  me  to  be  nothing  but 
clothes  and  manners.  Both  were  exquisite ; 
but  they  wouldn't  be  very  filling  for  a  steady 
diet." 

"  But  we  aren't  asked  to  eat  her  clothes,  or 
even  her  manners.  It  is  a  dinner  we  are  talking 
about,"  her  brother  suggested. 

"  What  do  you  think  about  it,  Harry  ?  " 

"  I  don't  quite  know.  Mr.  Myers  was  an  old 
chum  of  father's,  and,  for  his  sake,  I  don't  want 
to  be  rude." 

Nathalie  bent  forward,  clasped  her  hands 
above  her  plate  and  rested  her  chin  upon  them. 

"Oh,  Hal,  why  did  you  ever  happen  to  have 
such  a  colossal  conscience  ?  "  she  said  regretfully. 


URSULA'S  FRESHMAN  57 

"  If  you  put  it  on  that  ground,  I  suppose  we  shall 
have  to  go.  For  my  part,  though,  I'd  rather 
starve." 

Behind  his  glasses,  Harry  Arterburn's  blue 
eyes  twinkled  mischievously. 

"  Possibly  she  intends  it  as  a  welcome  home, 
chum." 

"If  she  does,  it's  a  trifle  belated,"  Nathalie 
retorted,  while  she  gave  him  his  second  cup  of 
coffee.  Then  she  referred  to  the  letter  which 
still  lay  open  before  her.  "  What  do  you  suppose 
she  means  by  her  especial  reason  for  wishing  to 
see  you  ?  " 

"  It  passes  my  comprehension.  Then  shall  I 
write  her  that  we  will  go  ?  " 

"Yes,  I  suppose  so;  but  you  might  add  a 
postscript  that  it  is  usually  polite  to  call  first." 

"She  probably  regards  you  as  too  young  to 
receive  calls,"  Harry  suggested  unkindly. 

"Then  I  am  too  young  to  go  out  to  dinner. 
That's  a  good  idea,  Hal.  You  can  put  me  to  by- 
low,  before  you  start." 

"  No  need.  She  expressly  states  that  it  will  be 
early,  and  with  no  other  guests."  He  rose  from 
the  table.  "  Shall  I  order  anything,  to-day, 
Nathalie  ?  " 

"  No.  We've  plenty  of  everything  for  the 
present." 


58  URSULAS  FRESHMAN 

He  looked  at  her  admiringly. 

"  How  do  you  make  things  last  so  long, 
Nathalie  ?  " 

"Ask  Mrs.  Barrett.  She  taught  me  to  plan. 
I  want  to  be  thrifty ;  it  is  the  only  condition  that 
let  me  come  back  here.  Do  I  really  add  so  very 
much  to  your  bills,  Hal  ?  " 

"  No.  Even  if  you  did,  though,  I  couldn't  get 
on  without  you.  Who  else  would  poke  the  fire 
with  me,  and  gossip  at  bedtime  ?  " 

"Nobody,  if  I  could  get  here.  But, 
Harry "  She  hesitated  a  little. 

"  Well,  dear  ?  " 

"  Do  you  find  it  so  very  hard  to  get  on  with- 
out the  Rex  money  ?  "  she  asked  anxiously.  "  I 
know  you  miss  it.  Can  you  get  through  without 
it?" 

He  nodded  reassuringly. 

"  We  were  inside  our  allowance,  last  month. 
It  wasn't  much,  to  be  sure ;  but  it  was  inside. 
Of  course  I  should  like  it,  if  I  could  get  another 
pupil.  I  have  all  my  mornings  free,  and  I  might 
just  as  well  give  some  of  my  spare  time  to  teach- 
ing." 

"  If  you  don't  work  too  hard.  But  it  is  early 
in  the  season,  and  there  is  plenty  of  time  yet  for 
you  to  hear  of  somebody  who  needs  cramming," 
she  returned,  with  the  cheery  optimism  which 


URSULA'S  FRESHMAN  59 

made  her  such  a  tonic  to  her  less  hopeful 
brother. 

Now  he  smiled  at  her  across  the  dismantled 
table. 

"  You  are  a  comfort,  chum,"  he  said  heartily. 

Left  to  herself,  Nathalie  began  to  gather  up 
the  cups,  preparatory  to  her  dish- washing. 
There  was  an  attractive  daintiness  about  the 
way  in  which  she  handled  the  silver  and  china, 
and  even  the  dishpan  and  the  long,  soft  towels. 
It  showed  that  the  girl  was  a  born  housekeeper ; 
and  she  went  about  her  homely  task  with  appar- 
ent enjoyment.  The  fact  was  that  Nathalie 
Arterburn  had  never  outgrown  her  childish  love 
of  a  baby-house,  and,  to  her  mind,  this  wee  apart- 
ment was  nothing  more  nor  less  than  a  baby- 
house  on  an  exaggerated  scale,  her  life  with  her 
brother  only  a  prolonged  play-day. 

Left  an  orphan  in  her  childhood,  she  had  been 
sent  to  her  father's  sister  in  Maine,  until  such 
time  as  her  older  brother  could  finish  his  study 
in  Germany,  and  come  back  to  America  to  make 
a  home  for  his  young  brothers  and  sisters.  As 
Nathalie  had  said,  that  morning,  Harry  Arter- 
burn owned  a  conscience ;  and  he  had  come  to 
New  York,  just  two  years  before,  fully  resolved 
to  fulfil  the  expressed  wish  of  his  father,  that 
the  little  family  should  be  held  together.  The 


60  URSULA'S  FRESHMAN 

children  were  young  and  not  too  ready  to  yield 
obedience  to  the  brother  whose  eight  years  of 
college  and  university  life  had  left  him  almost  a 
stranger  to  them.  His  salary  as  instructor  at 
the  university,  even  eked  out  by  the  slight  in- 
come from  his  father's  estate  and  by  his  tutor- 
ship to  Rex  Barrett,  had  been  sorely  strained  by 
the  demands  of  city  rents  and  markets ;  and  the 
boy  of  twenty-six  had  all  but  broken  down  under 
the  load.  Two  tonics  had  upheld  him :  the  loyal 
love  of  Nathalie  whose  girlish  ideals  centered  in 
her  new-found  brother,  and  the  generous  friend- 
ship of  the  Barretts  and  their  kin. 

It  was  Mrs.  Barrett  who  had  taken  them  oil 
to  Quantuck,  the  summer  before  they  went 
abroad ;  it  was  Mr.  Barrett  who  had  asked  both 
Arterburns  to  go  to  Europe  with  them,  and  it 
was  Mrs.  Barrett's  nephew  who  had  influence  in 
such  high  places  that  Harry  Arterburn  had  been 
given  leave  of  absence  for  ten  months  of  foreign 
study.  The  trip  had  been  one  long  dream  of  de- 
light to  both  brother  and  sister,  and  Mrs.  Barrett 
had  forestalled  any  anxiety  for  the  future,  which 
might  have  hurried  the  awakening.  It  was  by 
her  advice  that  the  three  younger  children  were 
allowed  to  remain  in  Vermont  with  the  old 
cousin  who  had  been  Harry's  housekeeper,  the 
winter  before.  The  country  life  was  as  much 


URSULA'S  FRESHMAN  61 

more  wholesome  for  them,  as  it  was  less  expen- 
sive ;  Cousin  Eudora  Evelina  was  a  good  cook 
and,  left  to  herself,  an  excellent  disciplinarian ; 
and  Harry,  after  one  last  tussle  with  his  con- 
science, yielded  to  a  plan  which  was  so  obviously 
an  improvement  upon  the  one  which  he  had 
attempted  to  put  into  operation.  From  the  first, 
there  was  no  question  of  separating  Harry  and 
Nathalie.  Parted,  they  would  have  been  as  use- 
ful as  the  separate  blades  of  a  pair  of  scissors ; 
each  would  rust  for  want  of  the  other.  Accord- 
ingly, early  October  had  found  them  settled  in 
their  tiny  new  apartment,  with  Mrs.  Barrett 
within  easy  reach,  to  serve  as  adviser  or  chap- 
eron in  case  of  need. 

Over  her  five  little  rooms,  Nathalie  reigned 
supreme  as  hostess,  cook  and  housemaid.  She 
had  thrown  herself  into  her  new  routine  with  a 
zeal  which  had  seemed  to  Mrs.  Barrett  too  great 
to  be  lasting ;  but,  as  week  after  week  went  by, 
Nathalie's  pleasure  and  pride  in  her  housekeep- 
ing showed  no  signs  of  waning.  The  simple 
meals  were  prompt  and  daintily  served;  and 
Nathalie  worked  all  the  flour  off  her  moulding 
board  and  clarified  her  kettle  of  fat  as  thriftily 
as  her  own  grandmother  might  have  done. 

As  a  matter  of  necessity,  they  breakfasted 
chiefly  upon  cereals,  and  their  soup  and  pudding 


62  URSULAS  FRESHMAN 

rarely  occurred  upon  the  same  day.  However, 
granted  that  the  cereal  is  just  salt  enough,  and 
the  beefsteak  and  potatoes  done  to  a  turn  and 
scalding  hot,  one  is  bound  not  to  starve.  For 
the  rest,  Nathalie  saw  to  it  that  her  linen  was 
spotless,  that  the  middle  of  her  table  was  never 
empty  of  its  posy,  and  that  domestic  worries,  no 
matter  how  insistent,  should  have  no  place  in 
their  table-talk.  What  wonder  that  Harry,  as 
he  seated  himself  opposite  her  bright  face,  should 
have  preferred  his  home  table  to  the  ambrosia  of 
Olympus  ?  Moreover,  no  matter  what  happened 
earlier  in  the  da}T,  there  was  one  custom  which 
never  changed.  That  was  the  good-night  talk 
beside  the  dying  fire. 

People,  looking  on,  pitied  the  brother  and  sis- 
ter for  their  lives  of  scrimping  and  of  hard  work ; 
but  Nathalie  and  Harry  Arterburn  needed  no 
pity.  They  had  learned  the  important  secret  of 
how  to  be  happy  upon  nothing  particular  a 
year. 

That  same  night  at  dinner,  Mrs.  Myers  glanced 
up  from  her  salad. 

"  I  had  a  letter  from  Mr.  Arterburn,  to-day, 
Ursula." 

"  Who  is  he  ?  "  Ursula  asked  indifferently. 

"  He  is  Nathalie  Arterburn's  brother." 

In  the  depths  of  Ursula's  brown  eyes  there 


URSULA'S  FRESHMAN  63 

came  a  spark  of  merriment;  but  it  failed  to 
catch  the  attention  of  her  aunt. 

"  Who  is  she  ?  " 

Mrs.  Myers  fell  into  the  trap. 

"  She  ?  I  have  told  you  about  her,  Ursula. 
She  is  the  young  girl  that  Mrs.  Gifford  Barrett 
took  abroad,  last  year." 

Ursula  had  a  naughty  desire  to  continue  the 
conversation  by  asking  who  was  Mrs.  Gifford 
Barrett ;  but  she  prudently  reflected  that  her 
aunt  was  scarcely  a  legitimate  object  of  her  teas- 
ing, so  she  merely  said, — 

"  I  remember  now." 

Then  she  went  on  with  her  dinner. 

Mrs.  Myers  felt  herself  becoming  piqued.  She 
had  not  expected  to  have  her  great  news  received 
so  indifferently. 

"But  you  don't  ask  me  what  he  said,"  she 
continued,  after  a  pause. 

It  was  a  plain  statement  of  an  indubitable 
fact,  and  neither  John  nor  Ursula  felt  called 
upon  to  deny  it. 

There  was  another  pause.  Then  Mrs.  Myers 
made  her  announcement  which  all  of  a  sudden 
seemed  rather  tame. 

"  They  are  coming  to  dinner,  next  Thursday." 

"  Oh,  bother  !  "  Ursula  said  explosively. 

"  Ursula  !  "  her  aunt  remonstrated. 


64  URSULAS  FRESHMAN 

"  Well,  I  can't  help  it.  John  had  promised  to 
take  me  up  to  Bronx  Park,  that  afternoon." 

"  But  I  have  asked  them  partly  on  your  ac- 
count, Ursula.  Besides,  bother  is  a  very  coarse 
word." 

Ursula  flushed  scarlet.  Until  she  came  to 
New  York,  she  had  never  been  accused  of  coarse- 
ness, and  now  the  accusation  hurt  her. 

"  I'm  sorry.  I  won't  say  it  again,"  she  said 
shortly.  "  But  I  thought  you  didn't  know  the 
Arterburns." 

The  shot,  though  unintentional,  went  home, 
and  Mrs.  Myers  reddened.  Then  she  began  to 
defend  herself. 

"  I  don't  know  them  ;  but  it  is  high  time  that 
I  did,  for  Mr.  Arterburn  is  named  for  your 
Uncle  Henry.  I  fully  intended  to  call  on  them, 
when  they  first  came  to  New  York;  but  I  never 
seemed  to  get  to  it.  Now  that  I  have  an  adopted 
daughter,"  she  looked  down  at  Ursula  with  the 
little  smile  which  now  and  then  softened  her 
face ;  "  now  that  you  are  here  with  us,  it  seems 
an  especially  good  chance  to  get  acquainted  with 
Nathalie." 

Ursula  saw  the  smile ;  but  she  hardened  her 
obstreperous  young  heart.  Upon  more  than  one 
occasion  since  her  coming  to  New  York,  her  aunt 
had  shown  herself  to  be  very  worldly,  and  Ursula 


URSULAS  FRESHMAN  65 

shrewdly  suspected  that  this  was  some  new  phase 
of  her  worldliness.  She  was  too  young  to  see 
deeply  into  things,  and  she  failed  to  realize  that, 
like  John's  priggishness,  her  aunt's  ambition  was 
only  skin  deep,  that  it  covered  a  truly  kind  heart, 
and  that,  even  yet,  it  might  yield  to  the  woman- 
liness hidden  underneath. 

Meanwhile,  Mr.  Myers  had  roused  himself 
from  the  abstraction  in  which  he  usually  wrapped 
himself  at  meal-times. 

"  Did  you  say  something  about  Arterburn  ?  " 
he  inquired. 

"  Yes.  I  have  asked  him  and  his  sister  to  dine 
here,  next  Thursday." 

Her  husband  looked  at  her  keenly. 

"  They  won't  come." 

"  What  makes  you  think  so  ?  " 

"  The  Arterburns  are  a  proud  race,  and  you 
have  never  called  on  them." 

Once  more  she  defended  herself. 

"  But  I  hunted  cheap  apartments  for  them,  all 
over  Harlem." 

"  Yes,  and  it  was  a  bore,  I  know.  You  saved 
me  a  good  deal  of  care,  Ursula  ;  and  I  appre- 
ciated it.  But  I  did  hope  you  would  call." 

"  On  that  old  Panjandrum  of  a  cousin  ?  "  she 
asked,  as,  in  spite  of  herself,  she  laughed  at  the  idea. 

"  No ;  on  them  all,  just  to  see  that  they  were 


66  URSULA'S  FRESHMAN 

comfortable.  It  would  have  been  neighborly, 
and  their  father  was  my  schoolboy  chum,"  her 
husband  answered,  with  a  sudden  wave  of  loyalty 
for  his  old-time  mate. 

Again  his  wife's  face  softened.  Though  she 
was  the  dominant  spirit  in  the  home,  she  was  in- 
tensely fond  of  her  dapper  little  husband. 

"  I  am  sorry,  dear.  I  didn't  know  you  cared 
so  much.  But  it  may  not  be  too  late  now  for 
me  to  redeem  my  reputation.  Mr.  Arterburn 
has  accepted  my  invitation." 

"  I  am  glad  of  it."  Mr.  Myers  spoke  with  un- 
wonted heartiness.  "  I  was  afraid  they  would 
stand  on  ceremony,  and  I  shall  like  to  have  Jack 
Arterburn's  children  in  my  home." 

Ursula  looked  up  with  sudden  interest. 

"  Was  that  where  John  got  his  name  ? "  she 
asked  eagerly. 

"Yes." 

She  turned  to  John. 

"  How  funny  that  you  never  told  me ! "  she 
exclaimed. 

"I  never  knew  it,  myself,  till  now,"  he  an- 
swered. 

Ursula  laid  down  her  fork  and  folded  her 
hands. 

"  Well ! "  she  said  deliberately.  "  If  this  isn't 
a  situation  ! " 


URSULA'S  FRESHMAN  67 


CHAPTEK  SIX 

"  \XPIEREFOKE  this  elegance  ?"  Mrs.  Bar- 
VV  rett  demanded,  as  she  entered  the 
Arterburn  apartment,  a  few  days  later. 

Nathalie  stepped  into  the  middle  of  the  floor, 
and  slowly  revolved  before  the  eyes  of  her  guest. 

"  "What  do  you  think  of  my  new  clothes  ?  "  she 
asked  complacently. 

Mrs.  Barrett  stared  approvingly  at  the  dull 
rose-colored  gown,  relieved  here  and  there  with 
touches  of  black  and  white. 

"It  is  perfect.  I  congratulate  you  on  your 
dressmaker.  But  aren't  you  getting  extrava- 
gant ?  " 

Nathalie  laughed. 

"  Extravagance  is  a  sin,  Mrs.  Barrett,  and  I  am 
never  sinful.  This  cloth  was  a  bargain-counter 
remnant,  and  it  cost  the  whole  sum  of  twenty- 
nine  cents  a  yard.  I  never  could  have  afforded 
it  at  thirty,  you  know.  It  was  a  tight  fit  to  get 
it  out,  and  every  particle  of  trimming  covers  a 
piecing.  The  velvet  came  from  my  blue  gown, 
and  the  white  is  a  fragment  of  Peggy's  old  sash." 


68  URSULA'S  FRESHMAN 

Mrs.  Barrett  shook  her  head. 

"  Don't  tell  it  abroad,  Nathalie ;  it  would  be 
like  a  cook's  analyzing  a  soup.  It  always  spoils 
my  relish  to  hear  of  the  individual  carrots  and 
turnips.  It  is  the  same  with  your  gown ;  it  is 
positively  Parisian,  so  who  cares  from  what  rag- 
bag you  culled  the  fragments  ?  " 

"  I  am  so  glad  you  like  it,"  the  girl  said,  with 
honest  pride  in  her  achievement.  "It  is  simple  ; 
but  I  truly  think  it  is  rather  becoming." 

"  It's  not  so  simple.  You  look  as  if  you  were 
dressed  for  a  dinner  party,  at  the  very  least." 

"  So  I  am,"  Nathalie  answered  blandly. 

"  Where,  I  should  like  to  know ;  and  how 
dare  you  accept  invitations  without  your  lawful 
chaperon  ?  " 

Nathalie  made  a  little  grimace  of  disgust. 

"I  was  perfectly  convinced  that  my  lawful 
chaperon  wouldn't  care  for  the  honor  of  even 
being  invited." 

"  What  is  it,  Nathalie  ?  "  Mrs.  Barrett  looked 
a  little  disturbed. 

The  girl's  eyes  danced  with  merriment,  as  she 
replied  demurely, — 

"  I  am  going  to  dine  with  Mrs.  Henry  Myers." 

"  Nathalie  Arterburn  !  "  Mrs.  Barrett's  back 
stiffened,  as  she  spoke,  and  the  angle  of  her  chin 
went  up  by  at  least  thirty  degrees. 


URSULA'S  FRESHMAN  69 

"  Yes,  ma'am." 

"  What  for  ?  "  Mrs.  Barrett  asked  explosively. 

"  Because  she  invited  us." 

"  Suppose  she  did  ?  "  Mrs.  Barrett  demanded, 
in  a  second  explosion. 

Nathalie  laughed.  Then,  regardless  of  her 
gown,  she  dropped  on  the  floor  at  Mrs.  Barrett's 
feet,  and  nestled  against  her  side. 

"  You  see,  it's  this  way,"  she  said  confi- 
dentially ;  "  she  wrote  to  Harry  and  invited  us, 
almost  a  week  ago.  I  was  down  on  the  idea  of 
going ;  but  Harry  has  some  sort  of  a  crotchet  in 
his  dear  old  brain  about  Mr.  Myers's  being  a 
friend  of  our  father,  and  all  that.  It  seems  to 
me  it  has  outlawed,  by  this  time ;  but  you  know 
Hal.  He  lives  just  to  carry  out  papa's  wishes. 
1  admire  him  for  it ;  but  this  is  one  of  the  times 
when  I  think  he  overdoes  the  matter.  I  don't 
want  to  go,  Mrs.  Barrett;  but  Hal  would  do 
almost  anything  in  the  world  for  me,  and  once 
in  a  while  it  is  only  fair  I  should  give  in  to 
him." 

Mrs.  Barrett  bent  over  to  change  the  shape  of 
the  bow  in  Nathalie's  hair.  Then  she  gave  the 
hair  an  approving  pat. 

"  I  think  you  are  perfectly  right,  Nathalie. 
Personally,  I'd  like  to  abolish  the  woman ;  but  I 
know  I'm  not  fair  to  her.  There  is  nothing  bad 


70  URSULAS  FRESHMAN 

about  her ;  it  is  only  that  she  hasn't  learned  to 
stand  down  on  her  heels,  socially  speaking." 

"I  really  don't  see  why  she  should  ask  us 
now,  though,"  Nathalie  said  reflectively.  "  Do 
you  suppose  it  has  taken  her  two  whole  years  to 
decide  whether  we  were  worth  knowing  ?  " 

"  It  wouldn't  be  a  bit  unlike  her,"  Mrs.  Bar- 
rett answered  viciously.  "  But  there  may  be 
some  reason  in  it,  after  all.  She  has  a  young 
niece  spending  the  winter  with  her." 

A  sudden  thought  dawned  upon  Nathalie. 

"  I  wonder  if  that  could  be  the  girl  I  saw  with 
John  Myers,  a  week  or  two  ago." 

"  Possibly.     What  was  she  like  ?  " 

"  Brown  as  a  little  gipsy,  and  wonderfully 
pretty.  I  stared  at  her  as  hard  as  I  dared,  for  I 
wondered  what  sort  of  a  girl  would  take  to  Pet- 
tijohn  Myers." 

Mrs.  Barrett  laughed. 

"  Rex  must  have  taught  you  that  name,  I 
know.  But  I  can't  fancy  his  taking  to  anything 
so  frivolous  as  a  girl,  least  of  all  a  pretty  one. 
He  must  have  been  inspired  by  a  whiff  of 
cousinly  duty." 

"  He  didn't  look  it.  I  never  saw  him  appear 
so  alive  and  human.  It  was  becoming  to  him, 
too.  Really,  he  wasn't  horrid  in  the  least." 

"That  is  enthusiastic  praise,  Nathalie.     Per- 


URSULA'S  FRESHMAN  71 

haps  your  dinner  may  not  be  horrid  in  the  least, 
either.  Here  comes  Harry,  and  I  must  go." 
She  lingered,  however,  to  exchange  a  cordial 
greeting  with  the  young  man,  as  he  entered. 

"  How  goes  it  ?  " 

He  answered  with  the  equally  Teuton  idiom, — 

"Wholly  good."  Then  he  lapsed  into  New 
York  vernacular.  "  Everything  is  flourishing, 
Mrs.  Barrett.  I  never  lived  better  in  my  life, 
and  Nathalie  and  I  are  as  jolly  as  grigs." 

"  What  is  a  grig  ?  "  she  challenged  him. 

"  How  should  I  know  ?  I  never  saw  one.  I 
always  associate  them,  though,  with  the  Quan- 
tuck  ticks.  What  do  you  think  of  our  dinner, 
to-night  ?  " 

"  I  am  too  astonished  to  think,"  she  answered 
bluntly. 

"  So  am  I."  Then  his  laugh  died  away,  and 
his  blue  eyes  met  the  guest's  eyes  steadily.  "  I 
don't  want  to  go,  Mrs.  Barrett;  and  I  know 
there  is  no  real  reason  that  I  should.  Still,  I 
have  an  idea  that,  if  my  father  were  alive,  he 
would  tell  me  I  could  yield  a  point  now  and 
then,  for  the  sake  of  old  traditions." 

Ursula,  meanwhile,  was  in  a  state  of  excite- 
ment. Her  one  glimpse  of  the  girl  in  the  blue 
skirt,  as  she  had  mentally  dubbed  Nathalie  Arter- 
burn,  had  made  a  much  more  vivid  impression 


72  URSULAS  FRESHMAN 

upon  her  than  she  had  realized  at  the  time.  She 
had  thought  back  to  her  again  and  again,  and 
now  she  could  not  fail  to  regard  it  as  an  interest- 
ing experience  to  meet  her  again  face  to  face. 
She  was  undeniably  excited.  Moreover,  while 
she  was  dressing,  her  excitement  seemed  to  im- 
part itself  to  her  comb  which  jerked  her  long 
brown  hair  viciously  and  then  flew  out  of  her 
hand  and  across  the  room  to  scatter  its  teeth 
along  the  floor.  It  even  extended  to  the  hooks 
of  her  gown,  which  malignly  refused  to  associate 
themselves  with  their  own  eyes,  however  often 
she  renewed  the  attempt  to  conquer  them.  It 
assailed  her  shoe-laces  and  her  string  of  gold 
beads.  Accordingly,  Nathalie's  feet  were  on  the 
front  steps,  when  Ursula,  flushed  and  warm  from 
her  exertions,  scurried  down  the  stairs  and  joined 
her  aunt  in  the  parlor.  Mrs.  Myers  surveyed  her 
with  a  hasty  glance  which,  nevertheless,  took  in 
every  furbelow  and  every  flaw  in  her  costume. 

"  Ye-es,  that  will  do,"  she  commented.  "  Pull 
the  front  of  your  skirt  a  very  little  to  the  right. 
Shake  out  your  handkerchief  and  be  sure,  if  you 
tuck  it  into  your  belt,  to  tuck  it  in,  corners  up. 
Did  you  think  to  put  on  the  stockings  with  the 
blue  clocks  ?  " 

With  a  swift  gesture,  Ursula  pulled  up  her 
skirt  to  show  a  pair  of  trim,  blue-clocked  ankles, 


URSULA'S  FRESHMAN  73 

and  her  aunt  nodded  in  reply,  as  she  moved  across 
the  room  to  greet  her  guests. 

Ursula  followed  her  rather  shyly.  All  at  once 
she  felt  young  and  almost  shabby  in  the  presence 
of  the  good-looking  man  in  his  eight-year-old 
evening  clothes,  and  of  the  tall  girl  whose  gown 
had  cost  nearly  one  tenth  as  much  as  her  own. 
She  dismissed  with  astonishing  swiftness  her 
cherished  plan  of  recalling  herself  to  Nathalie's 
memory,  and  her  cheeks  burned  hotly  at  the 
thought  of  the  mussy  roses  on  her  old  brown 
hat.  Mrs.  Myers,  looking  on,  longed  to  goad  her 
niece  into  some  sort  of  presence  of  mind;  but 
the  Arterburns  were  less  critical.  They  saw  no 
reason  that,  at  fifteen,  Ursula  Thain  should  have 
the  social  ease  of  a  girl  in  her  second  sea- 
son. 

"  I  wonder  if  you  were  as  homesick  as  I  was, 
after  I  came  to  New  York,"  Nathalie  said,  when 
the  two  girls  were  at  last  settled  down  together 
in  a  corner,  after  dinner. 

Ursula  cast  a  hasty  glance  at  her  aunt  who 
was  fully  absorbed  in  making  herself  agreeable 
to  Harry  Arterburn.  Nathalie  interpreted  the 
glance,  and  laughed. 

"  Evidently  you  were.  It  is  to  be  hoped  that 
you  are  recovering." 

"  Yes."     Ursula's  tone  was  a  little  dubious. 


74  URSULAS  FRESHMAN 

"  It  is  horrid  ;  isn't  it  ?  I  went  through  it,  my- 
self." 

"  I  don't  see  what  made  you  homesick.  You 
had  your  family." 

"  Sometimes  a  ready-made  family  is  worse  than 
none,"  Nathalie  replied  quaintly.  "  You  feel  as 
if  you  belonged  to  them;  but  you  don't  know 
just  where  you  ought  to  join  on.  Besides,  I  was 
from  the  country,  and  very  raw." 

"  And  I  was  from  Iowa ;  that's  both  country 
and  "West,  my  aunt  says,"  Ursula  said  rather  dep- 
recatingly. 

But  Nathalie  objected. 

"  I  like  to  be  from  the  country.  Just  as  soon 
as  Harry  can  afford  it,  we  are  going  back  there, 
to  live  on  a  farm  and  keep  pigs." 

Ursula  stared  in  astonishment  at  the  dainty- 
looking  girl  at  her  side. 

"  Miss  Arterburn !  " 

"Don't  call  me  Miss  Arterburn.  I'm  just 
Nathalie.  I  am  only  two  years  older  than  you 
are." 

There  was  a  matter-of-fact  frankness  about  the 
girl  which  delighted  Ursula,  and  she  moved  her 
chair  a  trifle  nearer  to  the  one  in  which  the  guest 
was  sitting. 

"  All  right,  if  you  really  want  me  to.  But  I 
was  just  saying " 


URSULAS  FRESHMAN  75 

"  About  pigs  ?  "  struck  in  Nathalie. 

"  Yes.     Did  you  ever  see  any  ?  " 

"  See  any  !  "  Nathalie's  laugh  was  so  infec- 
tious that  Ursula  joined  in  it.  "  Why,  of  course. 
Didn't  you  ?  " 

Again  Ursula  glanced  furtively  at  her  aunt. 
Then  she  lowered  her  voice. 

"  I  used  to  have  to  feed  one  at  home.  But  I 
didn't  suppose  New  York  people  knew  about 
such  things." 

"  They  don't,  unless  they  go  into  the  country, 
summers."  On  her  side,  Nathalie  was  strug- 
gling to  connect  this  pretty,  elegantly-clothed 
child  with  the  accessories  of  a  pig-sty.  "We 
don't  have  them  in  the  parks,  you  see,"  she 
added  vaguely. 

"  No ;  I  suppose  not.  They  aren't  very  pretty, 
and  they  aren't  even  wild  beasts.  I  used  to  hate 
them,  when  I  was  at  home,  and  to  be  ashamed  of 
it,  when  my  mother  made  me  carry  the  scraps  to 
them;  but  now,  since  I  have  been  here,"  she 
glanced  expressively  around  the  immaculate, 
cream-colored  room ;  "  since  I  have  been  here, 
I  have  almost  wished  I  could  meet  a  pig  in  the 
street,  once  in  a  while.  It  would  seem  sort  of 
good  to  hear  him  grunt." 

A  whole  allegory  was  hidden  in  the  girlish 
speech ;  but  Nathalie  Arterburn  was  no  dullard. 


76  URSULAS  FRESHMAN 

"  You'll  have  to  come  to  see  me,  some  day," 
she  said,  with  a  quick  wave  of  liking  for  the  girl 
beside  her.  "  I  housekeep  for  my  brother,  and  I 
know  you  will  like  to  see  my  funny  little  pantry. 
My  whole  kitchen  isn't  as  large  as  the  pantry  in 
the  house  where  I  lived  in  Chesterton ;  but  I 
have  great  fun  in  it." 

"  Do  you  ever  cook  things,  yourself  ?  " 

"  Of  course  I  do.  There's  nobody  else  to  do 
it." 

Ursula's  chair  slid  a  few  inches  nearer. 

"I  can  make  four  sorts  of  muffins,"  she  ob- 
served suggestively. 

"  Muffins  are  my  weak  spot.  Come  over,  some 
day,  to  give  me  a  lesson,  and  then  stay  to  lunch 
and  eat  them  up,  in  case  they  don't  turn  out  well. 
But,  after  all,  it  is  great  fun  to  live  here.  Don't 
you  think  so  ?  " 

"  I  like  it  better  than  I  did  at  first,"  Ursula 
answered  honestly.  "  It  was  dreadful  when  my 
father  left  me,  for  I  had  to  get  acquainted  with 
everybody,  and  learn  all  sorts  of  new  ways. 
And  then  I  missed  the  children." 

"  How  many  were  there  ?  " 

"  Seven." 

"  Younger  than  you  ?  " 

"  Yes.     One  misses  them,  you  see." 

Nathalie  laughed  at  the  pensive  tone. 


URSULA'S  FRESHMAN  77 

"  I  should  think  it  might  be  a  good  miss. 
There  are  three  little  ones  in  our  family,  and 
they  generally  manage  to  keep  the  house  turned 
upside  down." 

"  Then  seven  ought  to  turn  it  clear  over  and 
leave  it  right  side  up  again,"  Ursula  responded 
loyally.  "  But  I  did  miss  them." 

"  Like  the  pigs  ?  "  Nathalie  asked,  laughing. 

"  Worse,  for  I  didn't  have  to  feed  them.  But 
there's  John,  here." 

"  Ye-es."  Nathalie's  accent  was  doubtful,  as 
she  glanced  at  the  boy  who,  finding  his  conversa- 
tion superfluous,  had  subsided  into  a  serious- 
looking  book. 

"  He  really  is  a  great  deal  nicer  than  he  looks," 
Ursula  reassured  her,  with  a  frankness  which 
was  rather  alarming.  To  be  sure,  it  was  the 
first  time  in  nearly  two  months  that  she  had 
talked  to  a  girl  of  her  own  age.  In  itself,  the 
experience  was  exhilarating,  and  from  the  start 
she  had  felt  sure  of  Nathalie's  sympathetic  lik- 
ing. "  When  he  gets  waked  up,  he  is  as  lively 
as  anybody." 

Nathalie's  thoughts  flew  seventy  miles  to  th6 
eastward  to  Kingsley  Barrett,  just  going  home 
from  his  glee  club  rehearsal. 

"  Does  he  wake  up  often  ? "  she  queried  half 
involuntarily. 


78  URSULAS  FRESHMAN 

Ursula's  brown  eyes  snapped. 

"  You  needn't  say  impolite  things  about  my 
cousin,"  she  said  haughtily. 

"I  beg  your  pardon.  I  spoke  without  think- 
ing," Nathalie  answered,  in  real  contrition. 

"  You  shouldn't  be  thinking  such  things,  and  I 
like  Jack,"  Ursula  went  on,  with  more  loyalty 
than  logic. 

From  across  the  room,  Mrs.  Myers's  eye  was 
upon  them,  and  she  saw  that  something  was 
amiss. 

"  Ursula,  haven't  you  monopolized  Miss  Nath- 
alie quite  long  enough  ? "  she  inquired,  with  a 
warning  smile  at  her  niece  who  had  relapsed  into 
a  silence  closely  akin  to  a  fit  of  the  sulks. 

It  was  Nathalie  who  rose.  In  her  heart  of 
hearts,  she  liked  and  admired  this  pretty,  high- 
spirited  girl  who  allowed  no  one  but  herself  to 
abuse  her  own  relatives.  Nevertheless,  she  was 
only  human,  and  she  could  not  refrain  from  the 
temptation  to  get  in  the  last  word  with  telling 
effect.  With  provoking  deliberation,  she  shook 
out  her  rose-colored  skirt  and  brushed  from  her 
forehead  an  imaginary  lock  of  her  yellow  hair. 
Then  she  sauntered  across  the  room  and  stood 
resting  her  arms  on  the  back  of  her  brother's 
chair.  Mrs.  Myers  looked  up  at  her  approvingly. 

"  And  what  have  you  two  children  been  talk- 


URSULAS  FRESHMAN  19 

ing  about  ? "  she  asked,  in  her  most  caressing 
tones. 

A  sudden  naughty  light  flashed  into  Nathalie's 
eyes. 

"  Pigs,"  she  answered  gently,  yet  in  a  voice 
which  could  be  heard  throughout  the  room. 

The  next  minute,  the  hot  blood  rushed  into  her 
cheeks  for,  from  the  corner  by  the  drop-light, 
there  fell  upon  her  ears  an  unmistakable  boyish 
snicker. 


80  URSULA'S  FRESHMAN 


CHAPTEK  SEVEN 

AT  breakfast,  the  next  morning,  Mrs.  Myers 
played  the  trump  card  which  she  had 
been  holding  in  reserve,  ever  since  she  had  re- 
ceived Mr.  Thain's  letter  accepting  her  invitation 
to  Ursula.  For  reasons  of  her  own,  however, 
she  chose  to  wait  until  her  husband  had  left  the 
table.  As  soon  as  she  heard  the  click  of  the 
front  door,  she  turned  to  Ursula. 

"Ursula,  Mr.  Arterburn  and  I  had  quite  a 
long  talk  about  you,  last  night." 

Ursula  looked  up  sharply.  Then  she  feigned 
indifference,  and  dropped  her  eyes  to  her  plate. 
She  had  no  intention  of  gratifying  her  aunt  by 
any  manifestation  of  curiosity,  that  morning,  for, 
in  her  girlish  heart,  her  Aunt  Ursula  was  in 
deep  disgrace.  It  had  been  most  unfair  to  in- 
vite the  peerless  Nathalie  Arterburn  to  dinner, 
merely  for  the  sake  of  instituting  comparisons 
between  that  same  Nathalie  Arterburn  and  a 
certain  countrified  little  girl  named  Ursula 
Thain. 

For  a  long  half-hour    after  the   Arterburns 


URSULA'S  FRESHMAN  81 

had  gone  away,  Ursula  had  sat  listening  to  these 
comparisons,  while  she  had  twisted  her  fingers 
and  bitten  her  lips,  that  the  physical  pain  might 
serve  as  a  counter-irritant,  and  so  keep  her  from 
showing  her  resentment.  At  last,  however,  she 
had  been  able  to  hold  her  peace  no  longer.  She 
had  sprung  from  her  chair,  with  flashing  eyes. 

"  Suppose  I  did  cross  my  feet  ?  So  did  she ! 
I  saw  her!  And  she  bit  her  bread,  too;  she 
took  a  whole  horseshoe  out  of  it.  Besides,  she  is 
older  than  I  am,  and  lots  and  lots  prettier,  and 
she  has  lived  here  longer,  and  has  been  to 
Europe,  besides.  There's  no  reason  she  shouldn't 
know  about  things.  There's  no  reason  she 
should  be  shy.  She  doesn't  have  somebody  to 
peck  at  her,  day  in  and  day  out,  and  fret  because 
she  doesn't  toe  a  chalk  line,  and  scold  because 
she  talks  soprano  once  in  a  while.  At  home,  I 
wasn't  shy.  I  was  as  good  as  anybody  in  town, 
and  I  only  wish  I  were  back  there." 

If  Ursula  had  looked  at  her  aunt,  just  then, 
she  would  have  been  startled  at  the  pain  in  Mrs. 
Myers's  face.  However,  Ursula  was  staring 
haughtily  over  the  top  of  her  aunt's  head,  while 
she  waited  for  the  reply  that  did  not  come. 
Then  she  turned  away,  clattered  up  the  stairs  to 
her  room  and  cried  herself  to  sleep. 

She  had  felt  a  certain  reaction,  while  she  was 


82  URSULAS  FRESHMAN 

dressing,  the  next  morning.  Her  aunt  was  an- 
noying ;  but  she  was  generous  and  kindly  and, 
if  the  accounts  could  be  balanced,  Ursula  already 
owed  her  enough  in  the  way  of  good  times  and 
pretty  clothes  to  atone  for  a  steady  stream  of 
criticism  which  should  flow  from  early  dawn  to 
dewy  eve.  In  her  heart,  the  girl  knew  this. 
Moreover,  she  was  anxious  to  improve,  to  win 
her  aunt's  full  approval ;  and  this  very  anxiety 
made  her  the  more  sensitive  to  her  aunt's  criti- 
cism. Homesick  as  she  was  still  at  times,  she 
had  no  especial  wish  to  go  home.  Her  new  life 
was  undeniably  easier  and  more  interesting  than 
any  she  had  known  till  then,  and  she  was 
pluckily  resolved  upon  staying  where  she  was 
and  seeing  the  game  played  out.  In  her  saner 
moments,  she  knew  that  she  owed  everything  to 
her  aunt,  even  the  right  to  criticize ;  nevertheless, 
it  was  not  in  the  nature  of  hot-headed  fifteen  to 
accept  the  criticism  and  offer  no  remonstrance. 
She  knotted  her  hair  ribbon  defiantly,  and  went 
to  breakfast,  her  nose  in  the  air. 

Once  at  the  table,  she  had  found  it  hard  to 
reconcile  the  demands  of  offended  dignity  and 
the  claims  of  a  healthy  appetite.  Both  had 
suffered  by  the  time  Mr.  Myers  had  gone,  and, 
when  John  pushed  back  his  chair  from  the  table, 
she  started  to  follow  him. 


URSULA'S  FRESHMAN  83 

"  Wait  a  little,  Ursula,"  Mrs.  Myers  said 
quietly.  "  I  want  to  talk  with  you." 

Ursula's  lips  straightened  defiantly;  but  she 
dared  not  disobey.  She  folded  her  hands  and 
awaited  her  aunt's  pleasure. 

With  perfect  deliberation,  Mrs.  Myers  finished 
her  breakfast.  Then  suddenly  she  turned  to  her 
niece. 

"  Ursula  child,  what  makes  you  dislike  me  ?  " 

Ursula  gasped  at  the  unexpectedness  of  the 
attack.  In  her  place,  nine  girls  out  of  ten  would 
have  denied  the  dislike ;  but  Ursula  never  fibbed. 
She  felt  that  she  was  cornered;  but  that  fact, 
according  to  her  code,  could  never  justify  her  in 
an  untruth.  She  hesitated  a  little;  then  she 
answered  with  perfect  honesty,  — 

"Because  I  know  you  don't  like  me,  and,  no 
matter  how  hard  I  try,  I  can't  seem  to  suit  you." 

"  If  I  don't  like  you,  what  do  you  think  was 
the  reason  I  invited  you  to  come  here  ? "  Mrs. 
Myers  asked  slowly. 

"  I  don't  know.  I  supposed  at  first  it  was  be- 
cause you  thought  it  would  be  nice  to  have  me 
here,"  Ursula  answered  just  as  slowly. 

"  And  so  it  is." 

"  Then  you  take  funny  ways  of  showing  it," 
the  girl  flashed  hotly. 

"  How  do  you  mean  ?  " 


84  URSULAS  FRESHMAN 

"  You  never  act  as  if  you  cared  for  me,  and 
you  don't  do  a  thing  but  criticize  me." 

Her  aunt  interrupted. 

"  Never  mind  now  about  the  caring  for  you ; 
but  for  whose  sake  is  it  that  I  criticize  you  ?  " 

Ursula  carefully  erected  a  tunnel  among  the 
ruins  on  her  plate.  Then  she  topped  the  tunnel 
with  a  potato-skin  tower. 

"  Yours,  I  suppose,"  she  said  a  little  sulkily,  at 
length. 

"  Does  your  being  a  polite,  well-bred  girl  make 
as  much  difference  to  me  as  it  does  to  you  ?  " 

"  Yes,  if  you  have  to  introduce  me  to  people 
as  your  niece."  A  bread-crust  train  slid  through 
the  tunnel. 

In  spite  of  herself,  Mrs.  Myers  smiled. 

"  One  is  responsible  for  choosing  her  friends, 
not  her  relatives,"  she  quoted.  "  Of  course,  I  am 
glad  and  proud,  when  you  appear  at  your  best ; 
but,  after  all,  it  makes  a  good  deal  more  differ- 
ence to  you  than  it  does  to  me." 

"But  if  I'm  contented,  what's  the  use  of 
fussing  ?  "  Ursula  asked  gruffly. 

"  None.     But  are  you  contented  ?  " 

"  I  was,  till  I  came  here." 

"Always?" 

"  Yes.  That  is,"  she  glanced  over  her  shoulder 
to  assure  herself  that  the  maid  was  still  in  the 


URSULA'S  FRESHMAN  85 

room  ;  "  that  is,  except  when  I  had  to  feed  the 
pig." 

Mrs.  Myers  stiffened  a  little.  However, 
Ursula  had  not  been  the  one  to  learn  all  the 
lessons  of  the  past  few  weeks,  and  Mrs.  Myers 
rallied  swiftly. 

"There  might  be  worse  things  than  feeding- 
pigs,  Ursula.  Where  you  lived,  everybody  had 
them,  and " 

"  No,"  the  girl  contradicted  mutinously ; 
"  there  weren't  but  two  in  town,  ours  and 
Deacon  Banister's." 

Mrs.  Myers  ignored  the  interruption. 

"It  was  proper  that  you  should  have  some 
duties  at  home.  In  such  a  large  family,  every- 
body must  help,  and  somebody  must  do  the  dis- 
agreeables. Here  it  is  different,  and  your  duties 
are  different ;  but  it  is  just  as  much  your  place 
to  do  them." 

"Nobody  else  ever  told  me  I  shirked  my 
duty,"  Ursula  muttered ;  "  and  I  don't  see  how 
I've  shirked  it  now." 

"  It  depends  upon  what  you  call  your  duty." 

"  Making  my  own  bed,  and  keeping  my  room 
picked  up,"  Ursula  answered,  with  dogged  literal- 
ness. 

"  That's  only  a  small  part  of  it,  child."  There 
was  a  little  pause ;  then  Mrs.  Myers  left  her 


86  URSULA'S  FRESHMAN 

place  at  the  head  of  the  table  and,  taking  the 
chair  next  Ursula's,  rested  her  hand  and  arm 
across  the  girl's  shoulder.  "  Ursula,  what  did 
you  come  here  for  ?  "  she  asked  gently. 

"  Because  you  sent  for  me." 

"  Was  that  the  only  reason  ?  " 

"  No.     My  father  wanted  me  to  come." 

"Why?" 

"  He  thought  it  would  be  good  for  me,  and  he 
said  I  would  be  happy  with  you."  All  at  once 
the  girl's  lip  quivered.  "  He  said  that  you  were 
ever  so  much  like  him." 

"  And  you  think  I'm  not  ?  " 

All  the  determination  had  gone  out  of  Ursula's 
accent ;  it  was  only  dreary,  as  she  amvered, — 

"Not  the  least  bit  in  the  world." 

Under  some  conditions,  Mrs.  Myers  would 
have  been  flattered  at  the  statement  of  utter  un- 
likeness  between  her  dainty  self  and  the  shabby 
Iowa  minister.  Now,  however,  she  admitted  to 
herself  that  there  might  be  at  least  two  sets 
of  standards  in  the  world.  Mrs.  Myers  was 
worldly ;  yet  she  held  fast  to  her  own  ideals, 
and  her  ideals  were  a  good  deal  more  all-round 
than  they  generally  were  supposed  to  be.  During 
the  week  he  had  spent  with  her,  she  had  been 
mortified,  several  times,  by  the  discovery  that  her 
simple-minded  brother  was  her  superior  both  in 


URSULAS  FRESHMAN  87 

brains  and  breeding.  She  had  lived  in  the  heart 
of  the  world,  he  in  the  edge  of  the  wilderness ; 
nevertheless,  she  was  honest  enough  to  admit  to 
herself  that  in  many  ways  he  was  more  than  her 
equal.  Apparently  his  daughter  had  admitted 
it,  too. 

"  Ursula,"  she  said,  looking  straight  into  the 
girl's  eyes  which  were  glittering  defiantly 
through  their  tears ;  "  years  ago,  your  father  and 
I  loved  each  other  so  dearly  that  we  felt  nobody 
else  counted  for  much.  That  was  in  the  little 
house  at  home,  where  my  girlhood  was  as  simple 
as  yours  has  been.  Then  he  went  away  to 
college,  and  I  was  married  to  your  Uncle  Henry. 
Your  uncle  has  been  prosperous,  and  I  have  been 
very  happy  with  him.  Once  in  a  while,  though, 
I  have  wished  that  I  had  had  the  chance,  when  I 
was  a  girl,  to  see  a  little  more  of  the  world.  It 
would  have  fitted  me  better  for  being  what  I  am 
now,  the  wife  of  a  very  rich  man.  And  it  was 
just  on  that  account  that  I  sent  for  you  to  come 
here." 

"  I'm  not  going  to  be  the  wife  of  a  very  rich 
man,"  Ursula  interrupted,  as  Mrs.  Myers  paused. 
"  I'm  going  to  teach  school,  when  I  grow  up." 

"  Yery  likely.  It  is  too  soon  to  tell.  But,  no 
matter  what  you  are,  isn't  it  going  to  be  a  help 
to  you  to  have  had  this  winter  in  New  York,  to 


88  URSULAS  FRESHMAN 

learn  to  meet  people,  and  talk,  and  to  speak  and 
move  like  a  well-born  lady  ?  " 

"  It  may  help ;  but  it  isn't  everything,"  the 
girl  said  shrewdly. 

"  No ;  I  didn't  say  it  was.  It  helps,  though. 
Didn't  you  like  Nathalie  Arterburn  ?  " 

"  Yes."    The  answer  was  rather  grudging. 

"  And  wouldn't  you  like  to  be  like  her  ?  " 

"  I  couldn't,  if  I  tried.  It  comes  natural  to 
her  to  be  pretty  and  proper ;  it  doesn't  to  me. 
If  I'd  been  born  in  New  York  and  educated  in 
Paris,  I  never  could  be  like  her,  so  what's  the  use 
of  trying  ?  If  that  is  what  you  are  after,  you 
might  as  well  give  up  and  send  me  home,  first  as 
last." 

"Ursula,  has  it  ever  occurred  to  you  that  I 
like  to  have  you  with  me  ?  " 

"  I  don't  see  why." 

"  Because  your  father  and  I  were  so  intimate. 
We  have  married  and  drifted  far  apart ;  but 
when  I  saw  him,  it  all  came  back  to  me.  We 
can't  go  back  now  and  be  children  together ;  but 
he  has  been  willing  to  lend  me  his  daughter  for 
a  little  while,  and  I  want  to  make  her  happy  and 
contented  here.  How  can  I  do  it  ?  " 

Ursula  met  her  aunt's  eyes  squarely. 

"  By  liking  me  a  little  bit." 

"I  do  like  you,  child." 


89 


"  Bj  acting,  once  in  a  while,  as  if  I  suited  you, 
and,  when  I  don't,  by  giving  me  the  benefit  of 
the  doubt,  and  believing  that  I  am  trying  to  be 
somewhere  near  proper.  I  do  try,  Aunt  Ursula  ; 
but  it  never  seems  to  do  much  good.  It 
doesn't  come  natural  to  me,  as  it  does  to  John 
and  to  that  Nathalie  Arterburn.  It's  all  new  to 
me,  newer  than  you  have  any  idea,  and  I  forget 
one  thing  while  I  am  remembering  another. 
Then  you  all  look  cross-eyed  at  me,  and  I  get 
mad.  You  don't  know  how  mad  I  get.  If  I 
dared  spit  it  out  to  somebody,  it  would  be  some 
comfort ;  but  I  don't.  I  hold  in  and  in  and  in, 
just  as  long  as  I  can ;  then  it  all  comes  out  in  a 
lump,  and  you  think  I  am  a  great  deal  worse 
than  I  really  am.  But,  Aunt  Ursula " 

"  Yes  ?  " 

"  It's  all  so  different.  I  was  scolded  at  home 
when  I  needed  it,  and  that  was  good  and  often, 
too.  But  then,  in  between  the  scoldings,  my 
father  used  to  pet  me  and  cuddle  me  and  play 
with  me.  That  was  his  way.  It  isn't  yours.  I 
don't  believe  you  ever  scolded  Jack  in  his  life. 
Probably  he  didn't  need  it;  he  was  born  a 
goody  boy.  But  you  never  pet  him,  either. 
Once  in  a  while  you  tell  him  how  good  he  is,  just 
as  you  told  me  that  I  acted  all  right  at  dinner, 
the  night  the  rector  was  here.  But  that's  not  it 


90  URSULAS  FRESHMAN 

at  all.  I  don't  want  to  be  praised  ;  I  just  want 
to  be  liked  a  little,  and  then  the  scoldings  can 
take  care  of  themselves." 

Hot-tempered,  yet  pleading,  Ursula,  as  she  sat 
there,  was  wonderfully  like  the  boy  her  father 
had  been.  The  throbbing  voice  and  the  blazing 
eyes  so  at  war  with  each  other  were  carrying 
Mrs.  Myers  backward  to  her  half-forgotten  girl- 
hood. Bending  down,  she  kissed  the  girl  with  a 
sudden  wave  of  affection  which  was  half  for 
Ursula  Thain,  half  for  the  memory  of  the  boy- 
hood of  Ursula  Thain's  father.  Love  can  be 
smothered,  but  it  rarely  dies. 

When  Ursula  and  her  aunt  rose  from  the  table, 
half  an  hour  later,  the  lashes  of  them  both  were 
wet,  and  Ursula's  hand  was  tucked  through  her 
aunt's  arm  just  as,  weeks  before,  she  had  been 
used  to  tuck  it  into  the  hollow  of  her  father's 
elbow.  Misunderstandings  inevitably  would  arise 
later  on;  jarring  notes  inevitably  would  be 
struck.  Nevertheless,  for  the  first  time  in  their 
acquaintance,  the  woman  and  the  girl  had  looked 
down,  each  into  the  heart  of  the  other,  and  each 
had  found  the  sight  true  and  womanly  and  sweet. 

"  We  must  let  Maggie  have  the  dining-room," 
Mrs.  Myers  said  at  length.  "  Come  into  the 
library,  child,  and  I'll  tell  you  about  my  new 
plan  for  you." 


URSULA'S  FRESHMAN  91 

But  already  Harry  Arterburn  had  confided 
this  plan  to  his  sister,  and  had  been  hotly 
opposed. 

"  Harry  Arterburn,  not  really ! "  she  had  pro- 
tested. 

"Really  and  truly,  chum.  I  thought  you 
would  be  pleased." 

"  She  won't  fit  in  with  me,  and  she  will  spoil 
all  my  fun  with  you,  and  she'll  be  a  grand 
nuisance."  Nathalie  ended  with  a  vigorous 
climax. 

Harry  looked  a  little  disturbed. 

"I  am  sorry,  Nathalie.  I  never  thought  of 
your  objecting,  and  I  couldn't  see  any  way  out 
of  it." 

"  Tell  her  not  to  come." 

"  We  can't  afford  to." 

"  Then  tell  her  to  come  along,  and  let  me  keep 
out  of  the  way,"  Nathalie  suggested  hopefully. 

Harry  shook  his  head. 

"That  would  spoil  Mrs.  Myers's  plan.  She 
feels  that  Ursula  needs  to  know  girls."  * 

"  I'm  not  girls  ;  I  am  in  the  singular  number. 
If  she  needs  girls,  why  doesn't  she  go  to 
school  ?  " 

"  Her  aunt  wants  her  to  have  a  tutor.  And  I 
have  really  needed  a  pupil,  now  that  Rex  is  off 
my  hands." 


92  URSULAS  FRESHMAN 

Nathalie  gave  a  worried  sigh. 

"  Oh,  it  is  so  horrible  to  be  poor,  Harry  !  It  is 
a  shame  for  you  to  have  to  mix  up  with  all  sorts 
of  people,  and  work  so  hard." 

"  But  it  was  only  a  few  days  ago  that  you  were 
wishing  I  could  find  another  pupil." 

"  Yes,  I  know  ;  but  I  supposed  he  would  be  a 
boy." 

"  I  thought  you  liked  Ursula,"  he  urged,  as  he 
watched  the  downcast  face  of  his  sister. 

"  I  did.  She  is  a  spitfire ;  but  I  liked  her  in 
spite  of  it,"  Nathalie  assented  honestly. 

"  And  you  asked  her  to  come  here,  for  I  heard 
you." 

"  Yes,  I  did,"  Nathalie  assented  again. 

"  Then  why  don't  you  want  me  to  tutor  her  ?  " 
he  asked,  with  masculine  obtuseness. 

"  Because Stop  laughing  at  me,  Harry  Ar- 

terburn !  Because  she  is  as  pretty  as  she  can  be, 
and  I  don't  want  another  girl  around  in  my  way." 

Her  brother  surveyed  her  in  astonishment. 

"  Jealous,  Nathalie  ?  " 

"  Yes,  I  am,"  she  said  tempestuously.  "  I've 
had  you  all  to  myself,  and  I  don't  propose  to  have 
another  girl  coming  into  this  house  and  spoiling 
all  my  fun.  If  you  want  to  tutor  her,  and  I  sup- 
pose you  must,  why  can't  you  go  to  her  house, 
and  let  me  work  by  myself  ?  " 


URSULA'S  FRESHMAN  93 

Harry  waited  until  she  came  to  a  full  stop. 
Then  he  said  quietly, — 

"  I  am  sorry,  chum ;  but  1  am  afraid  we  can't 
help  ourselves.  It  is  only  for  two  hours  a  day, 
and  it  means  twelve  hundred  a  year." 

She  saw  the  worried  look  in  his  blue  eyes,  and 
she  relented  swiftly. 

"  Hal,  I  am  a  wretch  to  make  a  fuss ;  but  I 
have  had  such  good  times,  working  with  you. 
Truly,  I  didn't  mean  to  be  selfish.  When  will 
she  begin  ?  " 

"  Next  Monday." 

"  Friday,  Saturday,  Sunday,"  Nathalie  counted. 
"  Only  three  more  days !  What  made  Mrs.  Myers 
think  of  such  a  thing,  I  wonder.  Did  you  have 
any  idea  of  it  ?  " 

"Not  until  after  dinner,  last  night.  It -rather 
took  my  breath  away  ;  but  I  can  see  her  side  of 
it.  She  wants  the  girl  taught,  and  she  doesn't 
care  to  tie  her  down  into  a  school.  She  had  heard 
that  I  was  keeping  the  care  of  your  lessons  and, 
naturally,  she  thought  I  could  be  bribed  to  take 
charge  of  another  girl." 

Nathalie  looked  up  at  him  steadily. 

"  Do  you  honestly  like  it,  Hal,  like  it  down  in 
the  very  tip  bottom  of  your  soul  ?  " 

"  No,"  he  confessed.  "  I  would  rather  have  a  boy 
at  a  thousand  a  year  than  a  girl  at  twelve  hundred." 


94  URSULAS  FRESHMAN 

"  What  did  you  think  of  Mrs.  Myers  ?  " 

"  That  she  is  not  nearly  so  bad  as  I  expected." 

"Perhaps  she  has  experienced  a  change  of 

heart,"  Nathalie  suggested.     "  "Well,"  she  rose  as 

she  spoke,  and  clasped  her  hands  at  the  back  of 

her  fluffy  hair  ;  "  there  is  one  thing  about  it :  we 

aren't  likely  to  be  studying  the  same  things,  so 

at  least  we  shan't  have  to  do  our  lessons  out  of 

the  same  book,  and  I  can  turn  my  back  upon  her, 

if  I  choose." 

But  in  both  of  these  statements,  the  fact  belied 
the  prediction.  At  the  end  of  the  first  week, 
Nathalie  had  lost  all  desire  to  turn  her  back 
upon  the  tempestuous,  lovable  little  companion 
who  had  been  thrust  upon  her  so  abruptly.  At 
the  end  of  the  second  week,  she  found  herself 
watching  for  Ursula's  coming,  impatient  if  she 
were  late,  or  if  she  failed  to  appear.  They  clashed 
occasionally  ;  but,  even  in  the  clashes,  their  friend- 
ship rang  true.  Moreover,  Nathalie  quickly  dis- 
covered that,  in  the  matter  of  lessons,  the  fif  teen- 
year-old  girl  was  no  mean  match  for  herself.  It 
was  not  for  nothing  that  the  worn  Phi  Beta 
Kappa  charm  had  hung  for  all  these  years  from 
Mr.  Thain's  shabby  watch-guard.  A  man  of 
scholarly  tastes,  he  had  found  it  his  greatest  pleas- 
ure to  train  the  mind  of  his  oldest  child.  It  was 
not  so  much  that  she  had  been  educated,  as  that 


URSULAS  FRESHMAN  95 

she  had  grown  up  in  the  middle  of  a  well-chosen, 
well-thumbed  library,  and  had  taken  her  bedtime 
stories  from  Ovid  and  the  Odyssey,  rather  than 
from  Mother  Goose.  Study  came  to  her  as  nat- 
urally as  housekeeping  had  come  to  Nathalie,  and 
from  the  start  Harry  Arterburn  found  it  a  close 
race  between  his  two  girl  pupils. 


96  URSULAS  FRESHMAN 


CHAPTER  EIGHT 

'"TTHERE!"    Nathalie  paused  in  breathless 

JL  triumph.  "  Now  don't  you  feel  exactly 
as  if  you  were  flying  ?  " 

John  made  a  hasty  snatch  at  his  soft  gray  hat. 
As  he  did  so,  Nathalie  noted  with  approval  that 
his  gloves  matched  the  hat  to  a  shade.  What- 
ever his  other  failings,  John  Myers  was  always 
irreproachable  in  his  dress. 

"  My  hat  does,"  he  answered  her,  as  he  tucked 
it  under  his  arm  for  safe-keeping.  "I  would 
rather  it  waited  until  I  was  ready  to  start,  too. 
Isn't  it  a  little  gusty  up  here  ?  " 

But  Nathalie,  secure  in  her  four  hat-pins  and 
her  brimless  toque,  scorned  the  suggestion.  In- 
stead of  heeding  it,  she  turned  to  Ursula. 

"  Half  the  people  in  New  York  have  never 
been  up  here,  and  they  have  no  idea  what  they 
lose.  Dr.  Holden  used  to  say  that,  whenever  he 
had  a  conceited  fit,  he  came  here,  and  it  always 
taught  him  that  he  didn't  amount  to  much,  after 
all." 

"  Dr.  Holden  ?  "  Ursula  said  interrogatively. 


URSULA'S  FRESHMAN  97 

"  Yes.  He  is  Mrs.  Barrett's  nephew,  and  the 
largest  man  I  ever  saw." 

"  Larger  than  Mr.  Barrett  ? "  John  asked 
literally. 

Nathalie  frowned. 

"  I  don't  mean  that.  You  can't  measure  Dr. 
Holden  by  a  tape  line ;  but  he  is  a  man  who, 
no  matter  how  great  the  need  for  him  may  be,  is 
always  large  enough  to  fill  it." 

"  Here  in  New  York  ? "  Ursula  asked  idly, 
with  her  eyes  fixed  on  the  picture  before  her. 

"  Yes,  and  everywhere  else.  He  lives  in  the 
city ;  but  he  is  on  all  sorts  of  committees  and 
commissions  and  things  for  all  over  the  state. 
He  is  a  young  man,  too,  just  Hal's  age.  I  mean 
that  literally,  for  they  are  twins." 

"  What  brought  you  up  here,  in  the  first 
place  ? "  Ursula  inquired,  as  soon  as  Nathalie 
paused.  To  her  mind,  Dr.  Holden  was  a 
veteran,  too  elderly  to  be  at  all  interesting,  and 
she  saw  no  need  of  prolonging  the  subject. 

"  Rex  brought  me.  He  was  ill  for  a  long  time 
after  I  knew  him,  and  couldn't  walk  much. 
After  he  was  stronger,  we  used  to  explore 
the  whole  city,  until  we  knew  it  by  heart. 
We  generally  took  a  car  down  town,  and  then 
started  out  for  a  penny  walk.  It  was  good  fun, 
too,  heads  right,  tails  left,  at  every  corner,  and  it 


98  URSULAS  FRESHMAN 

took  us  into  the  queerest  places.  Once  it  took 
us  into  Mott  Street,  and  we  were  so  frightened 
that  we  scurried  off  as  fast  as  we  could,  and 
never  thought  of  our  penny  again  until  we  were 
safe  in  Fifth  Avenue." 

John  looked  interested. 

"  What  is  the  matter  with  Mott  Street  ? "  he 
asked. 

Nathalie  shook  her  yellow  head. 

"  That  is  another  proof  of  what  I  was  saying. 
New  Yorkers  don't  half  know  New  York.  Mott 
Street  is  in  Chinatown,  and  it's  not  always  a 
pleasant  spot  for  a  stroll.  I  never  saw  it  but 
that  once;  but  I  often  used  to  go  down  into 
Hester  Street." 

John's  face  looked  as  if  he  longed  to  make  in- 
quiries concerning  Hester  Street,  also,  but  dared 
not  show  his  ignorance.  Ursula,  however,  had 
no  such  scruples. 

"  Where  is  that  ?  "  she  demanded. 

Nathalie's  pointing  finger  turned  to  the  north- 
east. 

"Down  there,  away  behind  those  horrid  Cas- 
toria  signs.  That  is  where  the  tenements  are 
thickest,  and  where  the  children  swarm  all  over 
the  streets.  It  used  to  be  a  wonder  to  me  that 
any  of  them  came  out  alive ;  but  they  seem  as 
thrifty  as  a  crop  of  young  pusley." 


URSULA'S  FRESHMAN  99 

"  And  you  have  been  there  ?  " 

"  Once  a  week  always,  until  I  went  abroad.  I 
used  to  go  with  Mrs.  Ainslee,  Mrs.  Barrett's 
niece ;  but  now  that  she  has  a  baby  of  her  own, 
she  can't  go  nearly  so  often.  We'll  go  home,  that 
way." 

"  Is  it  safe  ?  "  Ursula  questioned  rather  doubt- 
fully. 

Nathalie's  laugh  rang  out  blithely. 

"  They  don't  eat  up  people,  here  in  New  York, 
Ursula,  and,  as  long  as  you  go  straight  ahead  and 
pay  attention  to  your  own  affairs,  they  don't 
take  much  notice  of  you." 

"  But  you  don't  go  alone ;  do  you  ? "  she 
persisted. 

Nathalie  turned  to  the  boy  beside  her,  with  a 
little  bow  which  brought  the  color  into  his 
cheeks. 

"  I  am  not  going  alone  now.  John  will  look 
out  for  us,  I  know." 

And  John,  nodding  his  assent,  in  that  same  in- 
stant swore  allegiance  to  this  first  girl  who  had 
ever  cared  to  place  herself  under  his  masculine 
protection.  Moreover,  he  resolved  to  show  him- 
self worthy  of  the  trust. 

"  Never  mind  that  now,"  Nathalie  added.  "  I 
brought  you  here  to  look  at  the  view,  not  to 
study  geography.  We  went  a  good  way  in 


100  URSULAS  FRESHMAN 

Europe  to  see  things  not  half  so  wonderful  as 
this." 

Nathalie  spoke  truthfully,  for  they  stood  at 
the  apex  of  the  huge  arch  of  the  Brooklyn 
bridge,  midway  between  the  towers  which  rose 
far  above  them,  carrying  on  their  buttressed 
crests  the  graceful  lines  of  the  cables.  Around 
them  spread  the  vast  panorama  of  Greater  New 
York,  with  Murray  Hill  in  the  northern  distance 
and  the  ragged  sky -line  of  lower  Broadway  close 
at  hand.  Behind  them  were  the  heights  of 
Brooklyn;  under  their  feet,  East  Kiver  whose 
rough  gray  surface  was  cut  here  and  there  and 
across  and  across  with  the  whitening  trails  of 
countless  "ferry  boats.  Over  their  heads  arched 
an  indigo  sky,  and  from  above  the  hills  behind 
the  Narrows  came  the  level  shafts  of  winter  sun- 
shine that  lighted  the  torch  in  Liberty's  hand, 
gilded  the  dome  of  the  World  building  and 
turned  to  sulphur-yellow  the  heavy  columns  of 
smoke  rolling  sluggishly  upward  from  the 
chimneys  at  their  feet. 

Ursula  drew  a  long  breath  of  sheer  delight. 

"  "Why  doesn't  somebody  paint  it  ?  "  she  asked. 

"Too  near  home,"  John  answered  scorn- 
fully. "If  it  were  Venice  or  the  Nile,  every- 
body would  be  after  it.  Things  close  at  home 
don't  count." 


URSULAS  FRESHMAN  101 

"  Then  why  don't  the  Venetians  come  here?" 
Ursula  demanded. 

Her  cousin  laughed. 

"  The  Nihilists  do,"  he  replied. 

And  Nathalie,  listening,  asked  herself  whether, 
after  all,  Kingsley  Barrett  had  been  quite  fair  in 
his  sweeping  condemnation  of  Pettijohn  Myers. 
Perhaps  the  boy  was  not  altogether  a  dunce. 

It  was  the  first  time  that  Nathalie  had  come 
into  really  close  contact  with  her  boy  companion, 
for,  on  the  night  when  she  and  Harry  had  dined 
in  the  Myers  home,  as  if  by  mutual  consent,  she 
and  John  had  remained  as  nearly  as  possible 
upon  opposite  sides  of  the  room.  John  was 
proud,  and  had  no  mind  to  bear  the  snubbing 
which  might  be  in  store  for  him  unless  he  kept 
his  distance ;  Nathalie  was  too  utterly  indifferent 
to  him  even  to  feel  any  curiosity  regarding  him. 
Their  hands  had  touched  and  their  eyes  had  met, 
at  meeting  and  at  parting ;  otherwise,  had  it  not 
been  for  John's  one  giggle,  Nathalie  would  have 
been  quite  oblivious  of  the  fact  that  there  was  a 
boy  in  the  room.  In  spite  of  herself,  she  had 
liked  the  giggle,  even  though  it  might  have  been 
in  part  at  her  expense.  At  least,  it  showed  her 
that  the  boy  was  alive  and  owned  a  sense  of 
fun ;  and  hitherto  she  had  not  given  him  credit 
even  for  so  much. 


102  URSULAS  FRESHMAN 

However,  by  this  time,  Ursula  and  Nathalie 
had  become  close  friends.  Their  friendship  was 
partly  the  result  of  chance,  partly  of  propinquity ; 
but  in  part  it  came  from  a  certain  likeness  in 
their  traits  and  training.  Heretofore,  Nathalie 
had  made  no  real  friends  in  New  York,  outside 
the  Barrett  family,  and  Kingsley  Barrett's  going 
away  to  Yale  had  left  a  large  vacancy  in  her 
very  small  world.  In  a  sense,  Nathalie  cared  for 
no  friend  but  her  brother  ;  yet  her  healthy  girl- 
hood demanded  the  outlet  of  a  companion  of  her 
own  age,  and  Ursula  Thain  supplied  that  outlet. 
As  a  matter  of  course,  the  two  girls,  suddenly 
thrust  into  each  other's  company  during  the 
larger  part  of  every  morning,  were  bound  either 
to  be  close  friends,  or  to  hate  each  other 
cordially.  For  a  few  days,  they  had  met  each 
other  with  their  nerves  on  edge.  Then,  merci- 
fully for  Harry  Arterburn's  peace  of  mind,  they 
had  abruptly  decided  to  be  good  friends.  Ursula 
was  jealously  admiring ;  Nathalie  was  tolerant ; 
both  girls  had  been  trained  to  simple  and 
thrifty  habits,  to  the  point  of  view  which  led  to 
sensible  living,  while  circumstances  had  made 
Ursula  seem  so  much  older  than  she  was  in 
reality  that  in  many  respects  the  difference  be- 
tween them  was  one  of  years,  not  of  actual 
fact. 


URSULAS  FRESHMAN  103 

Nathalie  enjoyed  the  friendship  with  certain 
limitations ;  Ursula  enjoyed  it  absolutely  ;  John 
Myers  enjoyed  it  not  at  all.  In  fact,  he  was 
rather  inclined  to  resent  the  cavalier  fashion  in 
which  his  cousin  shunted  him  off  on  a  side  track 
and  left  him  lying  there,  while  she  departed  in 
search  of  Nathalie.  Ursula's  alternate  teasing 
and  cajolery  had  been  adding  a  new  spice  to 
John's  life  of  late,  and  he  was  of  no  mind  to  go 
back  to  his  old-time  tasteless  existence.  He  had 
begun  to  form  the  habit  of  neglecting  his  books 
for  his  cousin.  Now  that  his  cousin  had  taken 
to  neglecting  him,  he  turned  back  to  his  books, 
merely  to  find  that  they  had  lost  much  of  their 
savor.  At  first  he  was  surprised  at  the  dis- 
covery, then  disgusted.  At  last  he  unbent  his 
dignity  to  the  point  of  expressing  to  Ursula  his 
wish  that  she  should  give  him  the  first  place  in 
her  plans.  Then  he  experienced  a  second  wave 
of  surprise  and  disgust.  For  the  first  time  in  his 
life,  John  Myers  was  finding  his  wish  inadequate 
for  the  ruling  of  all  things  within  the  Myers 
home.  Ursula  merely  laughed,  nodded,  and 
went  her  way. 

At  length,  one  evening,  the  worm  turned. 

"Now  look  here,"  he  protested  wrathfully; 
"  where  does  my  chance  come  in  ?  It's  Nathalie 
this,  and  Nathalie  that ;  but  you've  been  promis- 


104  URSULA'S  FRESHMAN 

ing  for  more  than  a  month  to  go  to  the  Natural 
History  Museum  with  me." 

"  But  I  don't  like  your  old  bones  and  bugs 
and  things,"  Ursula  objected,  with  a  grimace  of 
disgust. 

"How  do  you  know?  You  never  saw 
any." 

"Yes,  I  saw  a  horse's  skeleton  once,  and  it 
was  hideous.  Oh,  Jackie,  what  a  skeleton  you'd 
make ;  you  have  such  lovely,  even  teeth  !  " 

But  John  frowned  on  her  digression. 

"  Go  with  me,  to-morrow,  Ursula." 

"  What  for  ?  " 

"  Because  I  want  you." 

"  But  I  thought  you  didn't  like  girls." 

"  I  don't ;  but  that  doesn't  signify.  You  are 
half  boy.  You  promised,  you  know." 

"Did  I?"  Ursula  said  thoughtfully.  "It 
must  have  been  a  good  while  ago,  Jackie,  for  I 
can't  seem  to  remember." 

He  thought  he  discerned  signs  of  yielding  in 
her  tone. 

"  But  you'll  go  ?  " 

"  Sorry,  Jack ;  but  I  can't." 

"  Why  not  ?  " 

"  I'm  going  to  walk  with  Nathalie." 

"  Then  take  me  with  you,"  he  demanded. 

Ursula  raised  her  brows. 


URSULA'S  FRESHMAN  105 

"  But  that  would  make  two  girls,  and  you  say 
you  can't  stand  even  one." 

He  smiled  again. 

"  No  matter.     I'll  risk  it." 

Ursula  meditated  aloud. 

"  You'll  spoil  all  the  fun ;  boys  do.  And 
you'll  get  tired,  and  fret  to  go  home.  And 
Nathalie  probably  won't  want  you  around." 

John  flushed  hotly. 

"  Did  she  ever  say  so  ?  " 

"  No.     Not  just  that." 

"  What  did  she  say  ?" 

"  Oh,  lots  of  things." 

"  About  me  ?  " 

"  N-no."  Ursula  looked  up  at  him  out  of 
the  corners  of  her  eyes.  "  No ;  I  don't  think 
I  ever  heard  her  mention  you,  one  way  or  the 
other."  Then  she  relented.  "  You  will  be  dread- 
fully in  the  way,  Jack ;  but  I  suppose,  if  you're 
so  very  anxious,  I  can  ask  her  if  she  minds 
having  you  go  with  us,  just  this  once." 

And  Nathalie,  who  had  chanced  to  be  in  a 
particularly  gracious  mood,  had  been  so  far  from 
minding  that  she  had  taken  the  cousins  upon  one 
of  her  own  favorite  walks,  the  footpath  over  the 
Brooklyn  bridge.  Moreover,  although  at  the 
start  she  had  taken  care  to  fortify  herself  with 
Ursula  placed  between  herself  and  John,  by  the 


106  URSULAS  FRESHMAN 

time  they  halted  on  the  crest  of  the  arch,  Nathalie 
had  been  sauntering  along  contentedly,  with  one 
of  the  cousins  upon  either  hand. 

As  they  came  out  through  the  crowded  west- 
ern approach  to  the  bridge,  Nathalie  turned 
sharply  to  the  eastward  at  a  pace  which,  it  must  be 
confessed,  taxed  to  the  uttermost  John's  powers 
of  endurance  ;  but  when  she  came  at  length  into 
the  district  which  goes  to  Seward  Park  for  its 
breathing  room,  her  step  lagged  a  little,  and  she 
began  tossing  merry  greetings  upon  this  side  and 
that.  Ursula  was  already  staring  about  her  in 
frank  curiosity ;  but  John  shrugged  his  shoulders 
in  frank  disgust,  and  stalked  along  at  her  side, 
his  eyes  fixed  on  vacancy  and  his  neat  gloves  in 
the  clean  recesses  of  his  side  pockets.  Hygiene 
to  the  contrary,  however,  at  the  end  of  the  first 
block,  he  decided  to  breathe  by  means  of  his 
mouth  alone.  At  the  end  of  the  second  block,  he 
turned  upon  Nathalie  the  stony  eye  of  disfavor. 

"What  do  you  propose  to  do  with  those — 
those  br — youngsters  ?  " 

Nathalie  glanced  down  at  the  strings  of  chil- 
dren that  hung,  like  parti-colored  kite-tails,  from 
either  thumb.  Then  she  glanced  up  at  John's 
delicate  face  and  immaculate  garb. 

"  Can't  you  take  a  few  of  them  in  tow  ?  "  she 
questioned  demurely.  "  They  get  so  little  fun 


URSULA'S  FRESHMAN  107 

out  of  life,  and  they  do  so  love  to  hold  hands,  as 
they  call  it." 

"  Thanks,  no.     I  prefer  to  keep  clean." 

"  So  would  they,  if  they  had  the  chance," 
Nathalie  retorted. 

"  They  don't  look  it ;  but  I'll  give  them  the 
benefit  of  the  doubt,  if  you'll  only  come  along." 

John  was  rapidly  growing  masterful,  and 
Ursula  nudged  his  ribs  while  she  cast  an 
affrighted  look  at  Nathalie  who  did  not  appear 
to  be  in  the  least  disturbed.  It  was  not  the  first 
time  she  had  taken  spotless  strangers  into  Hester 
Street.  She  knew  all  their  symptoms  by  heart 
and,  moreover,  she  rejoiced  in  the  more  acute 
of  these  symptoms.  There  was  another  silence, 
of  amusement  to  Nathalie,  of  physical  and 
mental  agony  to  John.  Then  he  demanded, — 

"  Are  your  friends  going  to  escort  you  all  the 
way  home  ?  " 

"  Oh,  no ;  they  will  begin  to  drop  off  very 
soon,"  she  answered  blithely. 

John  Myers  was  a  peaceful  boy,  yet  now  he 
began  to  wish  that  the  dropping  off  of  their  es- 
cort might  be  in  the  figurative  sense  which 
presages  the  need  of  an  undertaker.  The  little 
knot  of  children  was  swelling  fast,  and  they  sur- 
rounded Nathalie  like  a  swarm  of  bees,  crowding 
and  jostling  John,  treading  over  his  polished 


108  URSULAS  FRESHMAN 

shoes  with  their  muddy  bare  feet,  and  filling  his 
ears  with  their  shrill,  discordant  jabbering. 
Little  by  little,  he  found  himself  included  in 
their  demonstrations  of  affection  towards 
Nathalie ;  but  he  was  so  far  from  being  pleased 
by  the  attention  that,  when  one  small  and 
unwashed  urchin  seized  him  by  his  coat,  he 
promptly  detached  the  little  paw,  with  the  sharp 
order, — 

u  Hands  off,  youngster  ! " 

Instantly  the  child  rushed  to  the  gutter  for  a 
handful  of  mud  which  fell  full  in  the  crown 
of  John's  gray  hat.  Other  mud  followed,  and 
yet  more,  and  then  a  little  stone,  aimed  by  some 
reckless  child  hand,  swept  into  the  midst  of  the 
group.  In  another  instant,  the  scrimmage  would 
have  been  general,  had  it  not  been  that  the  stone 
passed  John  by  and  landed  full  in  the  face  of  the 
first  little  aggressor.  There  was  a  hush ;  then, 
before  the  tumult  could  arise  again,  before  even 
Nathalie  could  stir,  John  Myers,  immaculate  no 
longer,  was  sitting  on  the  curbstone,  his  feet  in 
the  gutter,  while  he  wiped  away  the  line  that 
reddened  and  reddened  yet  again  across  the 
cheek  of  the  urchin  on  his  knee. 

"I  wouldn't  cry,  youngster,"  he  explained 
to  his  patient  kindly.  "  It  won't  hurt  but  a 
minute,  and  then  you'll  forget  all  about  it.  Shut 


URSULA'S  FRESHMAN  109 

your  teeth  and — and  count  forty-one,  and  then 
see  if  it  doesn't  feel  better." 

But  it  did  not  feel  better,  and  in  his  woe 
the  child  twisted  his  grimy  legs  into  strange 
knots  over  John's  knees,  and  the  child's  mates, 
crowding  around  to  offer  sympathy,  splashed  to 
and  fro  in  the  gutter  and  added  their  share 
to  the  ruin  which  their  friend  had  wrought. 
Nevertheless,  the  boy's  sobs  were  yielding  to 
consolation.  John's  grip  was  comforting; 
John's  voice  in  his  ears  was  full  of  encourage- 
ment and,  for  the  first  time  in  his  desolate  little 
life,  the  child  knew  what  it  was  to  be  held 
tenderly  and  with  affection.  For  a  moment,  he 
struggled  with  his  sobs,  held  them  back  man- 
fully and  then,  when  once  more  they  would 
have  their  way,  he  nuzzled  his  bullet-like  little 
head,  mud  and  cut  and  all,  into  the  front  of 
John's  flawless  necktie  and  there,  hidden  from 
view,  wailed  out  all  his  misery  and  all  his 
gratitude. 

The  sobs  died  away  into  silence,  and  the 
crowd  died  away  on  the  trail  of  a  hurdy-gurdy. 
John  rose.  Then  he  essayed  to  shake  himself. 
Then  he  looked  at  his  girl  companions  with 
a  shamefaced  smile. 

"  I  couldn't  let  the  little  dago  bleed  to  death," 
he  said  apologetically. 


110  URSULA'S  FRESHMAN 

"  No,"  Nathalie  assented. 

John  gave  a  furtive  rub  at  his  sodden  knees. 

"  And  it  really  was  a  beastly  cut,"  he  urged. 

"  Yes,"  Nathalie  assented  again. 

"  Of  course,  he  didn't  deserve  it ;  but  he  was 
such  a  little  fellow,"  John  added,  Avhile  he 
glanced  reproachfully  at  his  left  shoe  on  whose 
shiny  top  the  print  of  five  bare  toes  was  dis- 
tinctly visible. 

"  Yes." 

John  felt  that  Nathalie's  replies  were  be- 
coming monotonous.  He  could  not  know  that 
she  dared  not  trust  her  voice  to  say  more,  and 
he  resented  her  apparent  indifference  to  his 
plight.  The  silence  deepened. 

"  Oh,  but  I  say  now,"  he  burst  out  at  length ; 
"  how  am  I  going  to  get  you  two  girls  home  ?  " 

"  We  passed  some  cross-town  cars  in  Canal 
Street,"  Ursula  suggested. 

"  Yes ;  but  I  can't  go  with  you." 

"  Why  not  ?  "  Nathalie  demanded  suddenly. 

For  his  only  answer,  he  dropped  his  arms 
to  his  sides  and  turned  himself  completely 
around,  just  once  and  very  slowly.  It  was 
eloquent,  and  Nathalie  felt  her  voice  going  once 
more.  However,  she  had  a  shrewd  suspicion 
that  John  Myers,  in  his  present  state  of  evolu- 
tion, could  never  appreciate  a  joke  of  which 


URSULAS  FRESHMAN  111 

he  himself  was  the  point,  and  she  steadied  her 
voice  again. 

"If  Ursula  and  I  don't  mind  it,  why  should 
you  ?  For  my  part,  I  am  glad  to  be  seen  with  a 
man  who  has  the  grit  to  be  a  gentleman." 

He  flushed  at  her  praise ;  but,  instead  of 
accepting  it,  he  attempted  to  turn  it  off  with  a 
laugh  at  her  expense. 

"  But  you  said  that  nobody  would  pay  any  at- 
tention to  us." 

Nathalie's  lip  curled  ever  so  slightly. 

"  I  said  if  we  went  ahead  and  paid  attention 
to  our  own  affairs." 

"  I  did,"  he  answered  defensively.  "  Aren't 
my  clothes  my  own  affair  ?  " 

Nathalie's  comprehensive  glance  took  him  in, 
in  all  his  details  from  his  necktie  to  his  knees. 
Then  she  shook  her  head  gravely. 

"  Apparently  not,"  she  answered.  "  You 
seem  to  have  given  yourself  wholty  to  the 
masses." 

But,  underneath  her  mockery,  her  voice  had 
the  ring  of  hearty  approval. 


112  URSULAS  FRESHMAN 


CHAPTER  NINE 

GREAT  was  the  indignation  and  consterna- 
tion in  the  Myers  dining-room,  that  night, 
when  Ursula,  between  her  giggles,  recounted  the 
tale  of  John's  misadventures.  Her  aunt  and 
uncle  were  already  at  the  table  when  she  entered 
the  room,  and  her  aunt  was  tapping  the  table- 
cloth a  little  impatiently.  Promptness  at  meals 
was  one  of  the  initial  clauses  of  Mrs.  Myers's  creed. 

"  You  are  late,  Ursula,"  she  announced,  as 
Ursula's  forward  toe  rested  upon  the  threshold. 

It  was  one  of  Ursula's  principles  never  to  an- 
swer the  statement  of  an  undeniable  truth,  when 
that  truth  was  put  forward  to  serve  as  argument 
or  rebuke.  Answers,  she  reasoned,  led  to  other 
statements,  and  those  to  needless  discussion,  and 
Ursula  hated  discussion.  Accordingly,  she  slid 
into  her  seat  at  the  table,  and  picked  up  her  soup 
spoon. 

Mrs.  Myers  renewed  the  charge. 

"  Didn't  you  know  you  were  going  to  be  late  ?  " 

"  Yes,  Aunt  Ursula." 

"  Then  why  didn't  you  hurry  ?  " 


URSULAS  FRESHMAN  113 

Ursula's  lips  puckered  into  a  smile. 

"  Circumstances  prevented,"  she  answered  de- 
murely. 

Her  aunt  laid  down  her  spoon  and  folded  her 
hands  before  her  empty  plate,  in  token  of  the 
fact  that  she  was  waiting  patiently  for  her  niece 
to  catch  up.  Ursula  took  the  hint,  attempted  to 
gulp  her  soup  too  hastily,  burned  herself,  choked 
and  then  retired,  disgraced,  into  the  folds  of  her 
napkin. 

"  I  should  advise  you,  another  time,  to  be  mis- 
tress of  circumstances,"  Mrs.  Myers  observed 
majestically,  as  soon  as  she  could  be  heard  above 
the  coughing. 

"  Where  is  John  ?  "  Mr.  Myers  interrupted. 

"  He  is — getting  himself  clean,"  Ursula  re- 
sponded irrepressibly,  for  the  whole  situation 
was  proving  too  much  for  her  gravity. 

"Ursula!" 

"  Yes,  ma'am.     But  truly  I  wasn't  to  blame." 

"  But  what  is  John  really  doing  ?  "  Mr.  Myers 
demanded. 

To  the  manifest  horror  of  her  aunt,  Ursula 
leaned  back  in  her  chair  and  laughed  till  the  tears 
came. 

"  I  told  you  before,"  she  gasped.  "He  is  get- 
ting himself  clean  enough  so  he  can  come  to  the 
table." 


114  URSULA'S  FRESHMAN 

Mrs.  Myers  looked  puzzled,  annoyed,  indignant. 
Then  she  turned  to  the  maid. 

"  Maggie,  go  up  to  Mr.  John's  room  and  ask 
him  to  come  down  at  once,  no  matter  what  he 
is  doing.  Tell  him  I  wish  to  speak  to  him  im- 
mediately, and  he  is  to  come  down  just  as 
he  is." 

The  click  of  the  maid's  heels  could  be  heard 
ascending  the  stairway.  Then  it  descended 
again,  and,  when  it  descended,  it  was  accom- 
panied by  a  curious  padding  sound  that  came 
nearer  the  dining-room  door.  Ursula  glanced  up 
expectantly.  Then  she  covered  her  face  with 
her  napkin  and  gave  way  to  her  mirth. 

Startled  at  the  unexpected  and  imperative 
summons,  John  had  made  no  delay  in  obeying 
his  mother's  behest.  He  had  appeared  upon  the 
threshold,  not  his  accustomed  orderly  self,  but  a 
rumpled  vision  in  his  stocking  feet  and  long  blue 
bathrobe,  a  vision  which  trailed  behind  it  a 
muddy  coat  held  by  one  sodden  sleeve.  His  hair 
was  awry,  and  his  eyes  were  anxious  as  they 
roved  from  his  mother's  set  face  to  Ursula,  buried 
in  her  napkin. 

"  What  is  it  ?  "  he  asked  hurriedly.  "  Is  some- 
body ill  ?  Is  Ursula  having  a  fit  ?  " 

Before  his  mother  could  frame  a  suitable  re- 
sponse, Ursula  had  uncovered  one  eye. 


URSULAS  FRESHMAN  115 

"  Oh,  Jack ! "  she  gasped.  Then  she  buried 
her  face  in  her  napkin  once  more. 

Mrs.  Myers  began  to  feel  that,  in  some  myste- 
rious fashion,  her  dignity  was  being  assailed,  and 
she  resented  it,  as  one  always  resents  being  on 
the  outskirts  of  a  joke. 

"  Be  still,  Ursula  !  John,  what  has  happened 
to  you  ?  " 

Her  tone,  sharp  at  first,  softened  on  the  last 
words,  and  she  looked  anxiously  at  her  son.  He 
reddened,  partly  at  her  question,  partly  at  the 
consciousness  of  his  attire  which  was  manifestly 
unsuitable  for  an  evening  dinner.  One  hand 
jerked  the  coat  out  of  sight  behind  him  ;  the 
other  gripped  the  bathrobe  into  still  closer  folds 
in  front. 

"We  went  to  walk,  and  I  had  some  mud 
splashed  on  me,"  he  explained  vaguely. 

His  mother  started  up  in  alarm. 

"Tell  me,  John,  were  you  run  over?"  she 
cried.  "  Were  you  badly  hurt  ?  " 

But  John  already  had  fled  in  the  direction  of 
the  stairway,  with  an  agility  which  ought  to 
have  reassured  his  mother  as  to  his  physical  con- 
dition. Mrs.  Myers  stared  after  him,  until  the 
last  blue  fold  had  vanished  around  the  corner  of 
the  upper  landing.  Then  she  turned  back  to 
Ursula. 


116  URSULAS  FRESHMAN 

"  Oh,  Ursula,"  she  said  reproachfully  ;  "  how 
could  you  let  him  ?  " 

Ursula  stared  back  at  her  aunt  in  open-eyed 
amazement. 

"  Let  him  ?  I  didn't  have  anything  to  do  with 
it." 

"  But  you  were  with  him." 

"  Yes,  of  course." 

"  Then  you  shouldn't  have  let  him  be  so  reck- 
less. John  is  too  delicate  to  run  any  risks." 

Ursula  essayed  to  reason  with  her  aunt. 

"  But  he  wasn't  reckless,  and  there  wasn't  any 
risk,  anyway." 

"  Where  were  you  when  it  happened  ?  " 

"  In  Hester  Street." 

"  "Where  is  that,  I  should  like  to  know  ?  " 

"  Oh,  over  there  in  that  funny  corner  beyond 
Second  Avenue,"  Ursula  replied  as  airily  as  if 
she  had  been  familiar  from  her  babyhood  with 
that  vague  region  generally  known  as  the  East 
Side. 

"  Ursula  Thain !  What  took  you  into  that 
dreadful  part  of  the  city  ?  No  nice  girl  is  ever 
seen  there." 

"There  were  two  seen  there,  to-day,"  Ursula 
returned  defiantly. 

"Who?" 

"Ursula  Thain  and  Nathalie  Arterburn." 


URSULAS  FRESHMAN  117 

Mrs.  Myers  frowned. 

"  Did  Nathalie  Arterburn  go  there  with 
you?" 

"  Yes,  she  took  us."  Ursula  nonchalantly  at- 
tacked her  roast  beef. 

"  What  would  Mrs.  Barrett  have  said ! " 

"  It  was  Mrs.  Barrett's  niece  who  took  her,  in 
the  first  place." 

Mr.  Myers  glanced  up,  as  he  spoke  with  the 
dignity  which  he  assumed  at  times, — 

"  Ursula,  the  East  Side  is  no  place  for  children, 
at  least,  for  children  by  themselves,  without  any 
older  people.  John  should  have  known  better, 
for  he  has  lived  in  the  city  all  his  life.  You 
were  not  at  all  to  blame ;  you  couldn't  be  ex- 
pected to  know  what  places  were  unfit  for  you 
to  explore.  But  now  I  wish  you  to  make  me  a 
promise  and  to  keep  it.  As  long  as  you  are  in 
New  York,  you  are  not  to  go  into  any  such 
places  again,  unless  your  aunt  or  I  am  with 
you." 

"I  won't,"  Ursula  promised  readily  enough, 
for  she  was  fast  growing  to  like  her  taciturn 
uncle.  "  But  how  can  I  tell  what  such  places 
are?" 

"  Come  to  the  library,  after  dinner,  and  I  will 
show  you,"  he  answered  kindly.  "For  the  sake 
of  your  father,  child,  as  well  as  for  your  own,  we 


118  URSULA'S  FRESHMAN 

want  to  keep  you  out  of  harm's  way.  And  now 
what  was  it  that  happened  to  John  ?  " 

Sobered  by  his  rebuke,  Ursula  began  the  story 
gravely  enough ;  but,  as  she  went  on,  her  mirth 
came  uppermost  once  more  until,  by  the  time  she 
had  finished,  her  uncle  was  laughing  in  sympathy 
with  her  merriment. 

"  It  might  have  ended  more  seriously,"  he  said 
at  last ;  "  but  fortunately  no  harm  was  done.  I 
don't  want  you  repeating  the  experiment ;  but  I 
have  an  idea  that,  for  the  once,  it  won't  hurt  the 
boy  to  see  the  rougher  side  of  things.  He  cer- 
tainly showed  himself  a  decent  sort  of  fellow  in 
the  end." 

Then  he  checked  himself,  for  John  had  just 
come  into  the  room,  as  immaculate  as  ever,  but 
looking  uncommonly  alert  and  energetic.  He 
laughed  at  his  father's  last  words. 

"  No  especial  honor  to  me,  though,"  he  said 
jovially.  "  I  had  never  been  in  a  street  fight  be- 
fore, and  I  must  confess  that  I  rather  enjoyed 
the  new  experience." 

He  recurred  to  the  subject,  the  next  day,  when 
he  and  Ursula  were  starting  on  their  long-de- 
ferred trip  to  the  Museum  of  Natural  History. 
Ursula  had  consented  with  unwonted  docility  to 
his  suggestion  that  they  should  go,  that  after- 
noon. For  some  unexplained  cause,  she  had 


URSULA'S  FRESHMAN  119 

never  liked  her  cousin  so  well,  nor  been  so  ready 
to  fall  in  with  his  plans  and  wishes,  as  since  she 
had  seen  him  sitting  on  the  muddy  curbstone, 
advising  the  child  in  his  arms  to  stop  crying  and 
count  forty-one.  The  sight  had  suggested  to 
her  the  possibility  of  as  yet  unsounded  depths 
to  her  cousin's  philosophy. 

John  had  come  in  from  school,  that  noon,  to 
find  Ursula  busy  in  his  room  with  hammer  and 
nails. 

"  What  the  mischief  are  you  doing  ?  "  he  asked 
in  surprise. 

She  pointed  to  the  inky  map  of  New  York 
which  she  was  fastening  to  the  closet  door. 

"I'm  establishing  a  dead-line  for  the  protec- 
tion of  your  clothes.  When  you  enter  that  great 
black  space,  you'll  go  alone,  and  in  jumper  and 
overalls." 

"  What  do  you  mean  ?  " 

"  What  I  say.  This  is  the  twin  to  a  map  your 
father  marked  for  me.  He  put  a  line  all  around 
this  part  of  the  city,  and  he  says  we  aren't  to  go 
there,  unless  he  tells  us  we  can.  I  made  your 
map  blacker  than  mine,  though,  for  I  thought 
you  needed  a  warning  more  than  I  did." 

"  Did  you  tell  Nathalie  ?  "  he  asked  abruptly. 

"  About  what  ?  " 

"  That  we  couldn't  have  free  range  ?  " 


120  URSULA'S  FRESHMAN 

"Yes." 

"Didn't  she  laugh?" 

Ursula  faced  him  sharply. 

"  No,  she  didn't ;  but  suppose  she  did  ?  Your 
father  doesn't  say  must  very  often.  When  he 
does,  I  propose  to  mind  him,  and  to  have  you 
mind  him,  too." 

"  Don't  I  always  mind  him  ?  " 

"  Yes,  after  a  fashion." 

"  What  sort  of  a  fashion  ?  "  he  demanded. 

"  A  fashion  I  wasn't  allowed  to  use,"  she  re- 
torted. "When  he  tells  you  to  do  something, 
you  generally  do  it ;  but  you  do  it  in  such  a 
bored,  condescending  sort  of  way  that,  for  all 
the  respect  there  is  in  it,  you  might  about  as  well 
leave  it  undone." 

"Did  you  always  mind  your  father?"  he 
questioned  keenly. 

For  a  moment,  Ursula's  eyes  drooped.  Then 
she  raised  them  again. 

"  Not  always,"  she  confessed.  "  Not  as  often 
as  I  wish  now  I  had  done.  But,  at  least,  I 
treated  his  opinions  as  if  they  were  important 
enough  to  make  me  mad,  and  I  don't  know  but 
there's  something  in  that." 

Mild  sunshine  had  given  place  to  cold,  snapping 
weather,  as  the  two  cousins  turned  into  the  park, 
the  next  day.  Ursula  gave  a  little  cry  of  delight. 


URSULA'S  FRESHMAN  121 

"  Oh,  glorious  !  "  she  exclaimed.  "  This  is  the 
first  bit  of  ice  I  have  seen,  this  year." 

Before  her  cousin  could  stop  her,  she  had 
darted  forward  in  a  quick,  short  run,  and  gone 
sliding  away  along  the  narrow  strip  of  ice  that 
bordered  the  walk.  John  started  to  remon- 
strate ;  then  he  stayed  his  speech.  According  to 
his  code,  it  was  a  totally  unorthodox  proceeding 
upon  Ursula's  part;  yet  most  things  were  for- 
givable in  a  pretty  girl,  and  Ursula  certainly  did 
look  very  pretty,  as  she  turned  and  came  sliding 
back  to  him,  with  her  brown  eyes  sparkling  above 
the  fluffy  brown  fur  of  her  collar.  She  read  his 
silent  disapproval,  however,  and,  coming  closer 
to  his  side,  she  tucked  her  hand  through  the 
curve  of  his  elbow. 

"  Shocked  again,  Jackie  ? "  she  asked  com- 
posedly. "  I  really  couldn't  help  it,  and  I  need 
something  as  an  offset  to  the  bones,  you  know." 

John  felt  that  it  was  likewise  unorthodox  to  be 
walking  arm  in  arm  with  his  cousin.  Neverthe- 
less, he  neglected  to  shake  off  the  muscular  little 
hand  that  rested  so  firmly  on  his  sleeve. 

"  I  am  getting  used  to  being  shocked,"  he  re- 
turned philosophically.  "It  is  a  whole  educa- 
tion in  itself  to  learn  to  keep  up  with  you." 

"  Does  that  mean  that  I  am  fast  ?  "  she  queried 
gayly. 


122  URSULAS  FRESHMAN 

The  laugh  died  out  of  John's  eyes,  and  he 
looked  down  at  her  gravely. 

"  Not  the  least  bit  in  the  world,"  he  answered, 
and  his  voice  had  an  accent  which  was  quite  new 
to  Ursula. 

They  walked  on  in  silence  for  a  time,  while 
each,  for  some  unexplained  reason,  was  thinking 
steadily  of  the  other.  Then  John  spoke  from 
the  very  midst  of  his  thinking. 

"  Do  you  suppose  he  really  would  have  cared 
about  yesterday,  Ursula  ?  " 

"  Who  ?  "  she  questioned  blankly. 

"  Your  father." 

Ursula's  face  sobered. 

"I  don't  know.  I  hope  not.  Of  course,  I 
shall  write  to  him  about  it." 

"  If  you  do,  you'd  better  tell  him  I  was  the 
one  to  blame,"  her  cousin  said  bluntly. 

"  But  you  weren't ;  at  least,  not  for  our  going 
there  in  the  first  place.  That  did  itself." 

John  went  on  with  his  own  train  of  thought. 

"  And  yet,  I  don't  know  as  I  want  your  father 
to  think  I  am  getting  you  into  scrapes.  What 
is  the  use  of  telling  him  ?  " 

Ursula's  hand  dropped  from  his  elbow. 

"But  I  tell  my  father  everything.'1 

"  What's  the  use  ?  " 

"There  isn't   any   use,   I   suppose,"   she   said 


URSULA'S  FRESHMAN  123 

tartly.  "  But  don't  you  ever  do  anything  just 
for  the  sake  of  doing  it,  without  thinking 
whether  it  is  of  use  or  not  ?  " 

"  Yes,  sometimes." 

"  Well,  this  is  one  of  the  times,"  she  retorted. 
"  I've  told  him  things,  all  my  life." 

"  Because  he  makes  you  ?  " 

"  No ;  because  he  always  understands." 

"  More  than  your  mother  ? "  John  asked 
curiously. 

"  Yes,  she  reasons  things  out  in  time  ;  but  my 
father  never  has  to  reason.  He  knows,  himself," 
Ursula  answered,  with  fine  discrimination. 

"  Do  you  know,"  John  went  on  reflectively  ; 
"  you  always  talk  as  if  you  and  your  father  were 
the  best  chums  in  the  world." 

"  Well,  we  are." 

"  How  funny ! "  John's  accent  was  medita- 
tive. 

"It  isn't  funny  at  all,"  Ursula  contradicted 
him.  "  It  is  sober,  serious  earnest." 

"How  queer,  then,  if  you  must  have  the 
proper  word ! " 

"It's  not  queer  in  the  least.  Everybody's 
father  is." 

"  Mine  isn't." 

"  And  whose  fault  is  it,  I'd  like  to  know  ?  " 

"  I  don't  know  as  it's  anybody's  fault.    It  just  is." 


124  URSULA'S  FRESHMAN 

"  It  is  your  own  fault,  too.  You  go  your  own 
way  alone,  and  let  him  pay  the  bills." 

"  He's  busy.  He  doesn't  want  me  around  in 
the  way." 

"  Did  you  ever  give  him  a  chance  to  find 
out  ?  " 

"  Yes,  I  suppose  so." 

"Well,  I  suppose  not,  then,  if  what  I  have 
seen  since  I  came,  is  any  sample.  You  let  your 
mother  fuss  over  you  and  spoil  you  like  a  poodle 
dog;  but " 

"  Oh,  look  here  now  !  "  John  protested  hotly. 

However,  Ursula  swept  on, — 

"  You  know  she  does,  and  you  let  her,  and, 
what's  worse,  you  like  it.  But  as  far  as  your 
father  is  concerned,  you  might  as  well  have  a  tin 
bank.  You  never  act  as  if  you  cared  what  he 
did,  or  if  he  were  tired,  or  if  his  business  was  bad 
or  good.  I  don't  believe  you  have  been  in  his 
office  a  dozen  times,  this  last  year." 

"  Why,  of  course  not." 

"  "Well,  you  ought  to.  You  ought  to  act  as  if 
you  cared  about  the  things  he  cares  about.  He 
isn't  going  to  talk  to  you  about  your  things,  un- 
less you  talk  to  him  about  his.  My  father  and  I 
talk  over  everything,  from  his  sermons  to  my 
best  gown.  I  used  to  make  doll  clothes  in  a 
corner  of  the  study ;  and  then,  if  I  had  been  very 


URSULA'S  FRESHMAN  125 

quiet  and  not  dropped  the  scissors,  when  his 
sermon  was  done,  he  used  to  tell  me  stories  out 
of  Homer  and  Judges." 

Her  face  was  brilliant  with  her  enthusiasm, 
her  eyes  like  stars.  John  came  out  of  his  medi- 
tation, and  surveyed  her  admiringly. 

"  By  Jove,  Ursula,"  he  said ;  "  you  look  as  if 
you  were  talking  about  Achilles  himself." 

Her  eyes  softened,  as  there  came  before  her 
mind  the  picture  of  her  father,  shabby,  un- 
worldly, yet  a  gentleman  who,  she  told  herself, 
was  fit  to  sit  at  kingly  tables. 

"  No,"  she  answered  slowly ;  "  only  of  Gideon." 


126  URSULA'S  FRESHMAN 


CHAPTER  TEN 

"  T  USED  to  say  I  hated  tripe  worse  than  any- 

JL  thing  else  in  this  world,"  Ursula  solilo- 
quized ;  "  but  I  honestly  think  I  hate  English 
history  worse.  I  never  can  remember  which 
Henry  did  which,  nor  whether  the  Chartists  had 
anything  to  do  with  Magna  Charta.  Yes,  Jack. 
Were  you  saying  things  to  me  ?  " 

"  I  should  say  so.  My  throat  is  husky  with 
my  efforts  to  arouse  you." 

Ursula  went  to  the  head  of  the  stairs.  Then 
she  shook  her  head  at  him  in  mock  disapproval. 

"  Oh,  Jackie,  how  you  are  deteriorating ! 
Tempusfuit" 

"  Tempusfuit  what  ?  "  he  demanded. 

"  Tempus  fuit  that  you  wouldn't  have  sat  on 
the  newel  post  and  shouted  at  the  top  of  your 
lungs.  Why  didn't  you  come  to  my  door  and 
tap,  like  a  gentleman  ?  " 

"  I  did  once,  the  day  after  you  came,  and  you 
roared  at  me  so  that  I  had  to  leave  off  tapping 
and  use  all  my  fingers  to  stuff  into  my  ears,"  he  an- 
swered unconcernedly.  "  What  are  you  doing  ?  " 


VB8ULAS  FRESHMAN  127 

"  Wishing  that  Mr.  Arterburn  would  choke  to 
death  on  his  own  English  histories." 

"  I  thought  you  liked  him." 

"  So  I  do.  That  doesn't  signify  that  I  like  all 
his  bad  habits,  though.  It  is  one  thing  to  like  a 
man ;  it's  quite  another  matter  to  like  his  his- 
tory lessons.  I  wish  he  would  confine  himself  to 
Greek." 

"  Why  don't  you  tell  him  to  go  slow  ?  " 

"  For  the  simple  reason  that  Nathalie  Arter- 
burn is  two  years  older  than  I  am." 

"  What  does  that  have  to  do  with  it  ?  " 

Ursula  eyed  her  cousin  despairingly. 

"  Pettijohn  Myers,  you  haven't  the  spunk  of  a 
mouse,"  she  said  at  length. 

He  dismounted  from  the  newel  post,  and  stood 
facing  her. 

"  Who  taught  you  that  name  ? "  he  asked 
indignantly. 

"  Nathalie  Arterburn." 

"  How  did  she  know  it  ?  " 

"  She  said  Eex  Barrett  used  to  call  you  so." 

"  Well,  you  ought  to  be  ashamed  of  yourself 
for  using  it,"  he  returned  hotly. 

Ursula's  voice  took  on  an  accent  of  injured 
innocence. 

"  I'm  sure  it  is  a  good  name." 

"  Good  enough,  only  there's  no  sense  in  it." 


128  URSULAS  FRESHMAN 

The  extreme  tip  of  her  tongue  showed  itself 
between  her  teeth.  Then  she  laughed. 

"  Don't  be  too  sure  of  that.  When  you're 
nice,  and  you  can  be  very  nice,  you  know,  when 
you  are  nice,  you're  Jackie;  but,  once  in  a 
while,  you're  nothing  in  this  world  but  Petti- 
john  Myers." 

With  a  bound,  he  passed  her,  as  she  still  sat  on 
the  topmost  stair,  went  into  his  own  room  and 
banged  the  door  behind  him.  Secure  in  the 
knowledge  that  her  aunt  was  out  making  calls, 
Ursula  followed  him  and  began  drubbing  on  the 
door. 

"  Pettijohn  Myers ! "  she  called. 

No  answer. 

"John!" 

No  answer. 

"  Cousin  Jack  ! " 

Still  no  answer. 

"  Jackie  ?  "  Her  dancing  eyes  mocked  at  her 
own  pleading  voice. 

"Wha'  do  you  want?"  The  answer  was 
gruff,  and  apparently  it  consisted  of  but  one 
polysyllabic  word ;  nevertheless,  it  was  an  an- 
swer. 

"  I  want  you." 

"What  for?" 

"  Because  you  want  me." 


URSULAS  FRESHMAN  129 

"But  I  don't." 

"  Then  what  did  you  call  me  for,  and  disturb 
me  when  I  was  trying  to  mind  my  book  ?  "  By 
this  time,  her  accent  was  rebuking. 

The  door  banged  open,  and  John  stood  on  the 
threshold. 

"  Oh,  confound  you  !  "  he  protested.  "  Why 
can't  you  ever  let  a  fellow  alone  ?  " 

"Because  I'm  lonesome,  and  I  want  you, 
Jackie.  Come  and  play  with  me." 

"  I'll  be  hanged  if  I  do ;  you're  entirely  too 
saucy.  There  are  some  things  no  fellow  will 
stand."  And  the  door  banged  shut  again. 

Ursula  promptly  converted  the  door  into  an 
organ  and  played  Georgia  on  it,  using  the  upper 
panels  as  manuals,  the  lower  ones  as  pedals.  Her 
warlike  strains  were  appropriate,  yet  they  did 
not  prove  alluring  and  John,  within,  was  omi- 
nously silent,  so  she  abandoned  her  assault  and 
philosophically  took  herself  out  for  a  walk. 

She  came  to  dinner,  flushed  and  contented 
with  life.  She  had  been  seized  with  a  sudden 
inspiration  which  had  led  her  to  walk  down  to 
meet  her  uncle,  and  his  manifest  pleasure  in  the 
little  attention  had  caused  her  to  forget  John 
entirely.  When  she  appeared  at  the  table,  how- 
ever, she  was  astonished  to  find  that  John's  face 
was  still  averted  from  her.  Accordingly,  she 


130  URSULAS  FRESHMAN 

talked  at  him,  all  dinner  time,  with  the  discour- 
aging result  that,  by  the  time  dinner  was  over, 
John's  face  was  more  averted  from  her  than  ever. 

Mrs.  Myers  and  her  husband  went  to  the 
theatre,  that  evening.  As  soon  as  Ursula  heard 
the  front  door  close  upon  them,  she  started  in 
search  of  John,  with  the  full  intention  of  fight- 
ing it  out  with  him  and  reestablishing  some  sort 
of  a  peace.  Ursula  had  no  love  of  an  armed 
neutrality.  Her  code  demanded  war  to  the 
knife  and  no  quarter,  followed  by  a  full  surren- 
der upon  one  side  or  the  other.  Furthermore, 
she  preferred  that  hers  should  rarely  be  the  side 
to  surrender. 

However,  her  search  for  John  proved  unavail- 
ing. He  had  removed  himself  directly  after  din- 
ner ;  and  Ursula's  first  thought  was  that  he  had 
gone  away  out  of  the  house.  Nevertheless,  the 
girl  was  a  born  strategist.  She  went  to  the  rack, 
counted  over  the  tale  of  his  various  hats  and  dis- 
covered that  none  was  missing.  Next  she  betook 
herself  to  the  street  and  reconnoitred  the  situa- 
tion. In  John's  room,  the  lights  were  burning 
brightly.  She  nodded  to  herself  and  went  in 
pursuit  of  one  of  the  maids. 

"Tell  Mr.  John  he  is  wanted  in  the  parlor, 
please,"  she  ordered.  "  He  is  in  his  room.  You 
needn't  say  who  it  is  that  wants  him." 


URSULAS  FRESHMAN  131 

The  maid  hesitated,  for  she  suspected  that 
mischief  was  on  foot ;  but  John  was  rather  un- 
popular with  the  servants  who  one  and  all  adored 
Ursula,  so  she  went  to  summon  the  youthful 
master  of  the  house. 

When,  after  an  interval,  the  youthful  master 
of  the  house  put  in  an  appearance,  it  was  obvious 
that  he  expected  to  find  a  guest  awaiting  him. 
This  was  shown  partly  by  the  very  manifest 
prinking  which  had  occupied  the  interval,  partly 
by  the  cordial  smile  that  lighted  his  face,  when 
he  entered  the  room.  As  she  heard  his  step 
come  nearer,  Ursula  glanced  up  languidly  from 
her  book.  JSTo  guest  was  in  sight,  and  John  was 
peering  into  the  corners  of  the  large  room. 

"  Who  is  here  ?  "  he  demanded. 

"  I  am." 

"  Who  else  ?  " 

"  Nobody." 

"  Maggie  told  me  somebody  wanted  to  see  me." 

"  Well,  sit  down,  then." 

"  But  who  wants  me  ?  " 

"I  do." 

John  stared  indignantly  at  her  for  a  minute. 

"  Oh,  fudge  !  "  he  remarked.  Then  he  swung 
around  on  his  heel. 

Ursula  thought  that  her  prey  was  about  to  es- 
cape her,  and  she  straightened  up  in  her  chair. 


132  URSULAS  FRESHMAN 

"  Come  back  here,  Jack,"  she  ordered  him. 

To  her  surprise,  he  obeyed  her. 

"  Sit  down." 

His  obedience  stopped  short  at  her  second 
order. 

"  Well,  stand  up,  then ;  but  you'd  better  take 
it  easy,  while  you  can." 

"  What  do  you  want  ?  "  he  asked  sharply. 

"  To  talk  to  you." 

"  Talk  away,  then,  and  hurry  up  about  it." 

"  I  want  to  know  what  makes  you  so  cross  to 
me." 

"  I'm  not  cross." 

"  Yes,  you  are ;  you're  savage  as  a  meat  ax, 
and  thorny  as  a  hedgepig.  You  were  cross,  this 
afternoon,  and,  at  dinner,  you  wouldn't  speak  to 
me,  and  now  you  look  as  if  you  would  like  to  eat 
me  up.  I  don't  think  it  is  a  very  good  way  to 
treat  company." 

John  listened  patiently,  until  she  was  through 
with  her  arraignment.  Then  he  asked, — 

"Is  that  all?" 

"  No.  I  forgot  to  say  that  you  ought  to  be 
ashamed  of  yourself." 

He  looked  at  her  meditatively  for  a  minute. 

"  So  ought  you,"  he  responded  then. 

Ursula  leaned  back  in  her  deep  chair  and 
watched  her  cousin  from  under  her  lowered 


URSULA'S  FRESHMAN  133 

lashes.  It  seemed  to  her  that  she  had  never  be- 
fore seen  him  look  one  half  so  well.  His  new 
clothes,  donned  for  the  mythical  guest,  were  as 
becoming  to  him  as  was  the  spot  of  angry  scarlet 
that  burned  in  either  cheek.  As  she  studied 
him,  she  half  relented.  Then  her  heart  hard- 
ened. Ursula  was  in  a  perverse  mood,  that 
night ;  and,  moreover,  she  had  decided  that  John 
must  be  disciplined. 

"What  have  I  done  ?  "  she  asked  innocently. 

"Been  beastly  rude." 

"How?" 

"You  called  me  Pettijohn  Myers,  for  one 
thing,"  he  said  resentfully. 

Her  long  lashes  drooped  yet  a  little  lower. 
Then  she  drawled, — 

"  Yes,  I  suppose  it  is  always  mean  to  twit  on 
facts." 

In  her  idler  moments,  Ursula  had  long  been 
wondering  what  her  cousin  would  be  like,  if  once 
he  were  thoroughly  roused.  Now  her  curiosity 
was  answered.  For  a  minute,  John  stared  down 
at  her  with  blazing  eyes. 

"  Oh,  you  hateful  little "  Then  swiftly  he 

checked  himself.  "  If  that  is  all,  I  think  I'll  go." 

The  color  had  died  out  of  his  face,  and  his  lips 
were  shut  tight  together,  as  he  turned  to  leave 
the  room.  Eeckless  as  she  generally  was,  Ursula 


134  URSULA'S  FRESHMAN 

was  frightened  at  his  evident  anger,  and  she 
swiftly  realized  that,  without  John's  companion- 
ship, life  in  the  Myers  home  would  be  a  dreary 
experience.  She  sprang  up,  ran  after  him  and 
caught  him  by  the  hand,  just  as  he  reached  the 
stairs. 

"  Jack,  don't  go !     I  was  only  teasing." 

"  Sometimes  teasing  can  go  too  far,"  he  said 
stiffly. 

"  Truly,  I  didn't  mean  it,  Jackie,"  she  begged 
him. 

"  But  it  hurts,  just  the  same."  He  started  to 
go  up  the  stairs. 

All  at  once,  Ursula  knew  that  she  was  stand- 
ing on  the  edge  of  a  crisis.  It  had  not  occurred 
to  her  that,  down  in  his  secret  heart,  John  might 
not  be  proud  of  some  of  his  more  salient  char- 
acteristics. Now  her  womanly  instinct  warned 
her  truly  that,  if  once  she  let  her  cousin  go  away 
to  think  over  their  quarrel,  she  might  as  well  bid 
good-bye  to  any  hope  of  keeping  on  with  their 
friendship.  Now  or  never  was  the  time  for 
peace. 

Putting  forth  all  her  strength,  she  half  led, 
half  pushed  John  back  into  the  parlor  and  forced 
him  to  sit  down  on  a  sofa.  Then,  still  holding 
his  hand,  she  dropped  down  at  his  side. 

"Jack,  you've  got  to  listen  to  me,"  she  said 


URSULAS  FRESHMAN  135 

tempestuously.  "  I  was  only  just  trying  to  tease 
you.  I  never  supposed  you  would  take  it  in 
earnest.  We  used  to  tease  each  other  all  the 
time,  at  home,  the  whole  lot  of  us,  and  nobody 
ever  thought  of  caring.  We  knew  just  what  it 
all  amounted  to,  and  I  supposed  you  knew  it,  too. 
I  never  thought  you  would  turn  peppery  over  a 
little  thing  like  that." 

"  It  doesn't  strike  me  that  it  was  such  a  very 
little  thing,"  he  returned,  as  he  tried  to  pull  his 
hand  away  from  her  strong,  nervous  fingers. 

She  held  on  resolutely. 

"  Jack,  are  you  really  and  truly  and  honestly 
mad  at  me  ?  "  she  asked. 

"  Yes,  I  am."  The  answer  was  full  of  boyish 
dignity,  and  again  Ursula's  heart  smote  her. 

"  I  am  sorry.     I  can't  say  more  than  that." 

"  No." 

"  But  I  do  wish  you  would  tell  me  what  you 
are  mad  at,"  she  went  on,  after  a  pause. 

"  A  good  many  things." 

"  Oh,  dear,  I  can't  see  what,"  she  broke  out, 
half  penitently,  half  resentfully. 

"  For  calling  me  Pettijohn  Myers,  for  one 
thing." 

She  looked  at  him  impatiently. 

"Jack,  what  do  you  care?  Everybody  gets 
nicknamed,  sooner  or  later.  At  home,  I  was 


136  URSULA'S  FRESHMAN 

Snub  by  Thain,  all  over  the  school,  just  on  ac- 
count of  my  nose ;  but  I  didn't  care  a  row  of 
pins  about  it." 

"  I  am  glad  you  didn't.  I  do  care.  That's  the 
difference." 

Ursula  dropped  his  hand. 

"  Well,  then  I  must  say  I  am  glad  \ve  are  dif- 
ferent," she  said  hotly.  Then,  as  he  made  a 
move  as  if  to  rise,  she  seized  his  hand  again. 
"  But  Pettijohn  isn't  a  bad  name.  You  oughtn't 
to  mind  it." 

Suddenly  he  freed  himself  and,  rising,  tramped 
the  length  of  the  room  and  back  again.  Then 
he  faced  her. 

"  I  don't  mind  the  name ;  it's  what  it  stands 
for.  It  is  no  fun  to  know  that  one  isn't  popular." 

"  How  do  you  know  it  ?  "  she  demanded. 

"  All  sorts  of  ways.  By  their  calling  me  Pet- 
tijohn, for  one  thing." 

"Nicknames  don't  count." 

"  It  depends  on  whether  they  use  them  to  your 
face,  or  behind  your  back,"  he  answered  moodily. 

"  What  makes  you  think  you  aren't  popular  ?  " 

"  I  don't  think  it ;  I  know  it.  A  fellow  always 
knows  when  he  isn't  liked." 

"Get  yourself  liked,  then,"  she  said  daunt- 
lessly. 

"  I  can't.     I've  tried  it,  after  a  fashion ;  but  I 


URSULA'S  FRESHMAN  137 

won't  toady,  and  I  have  about  given  it  up.  I 
mean  not  to  act  as  if  I  cared,  and  one  can  bluff 
out  most  things ;  but  it  is  a  little  too  much,  when 
it  comes  inside  one's  own  house." 

"  What  conies  ?  "  Ursula  asked  blankly. 

"  The  Pettijohn,  and  all  that." 

"But,  Jackie,  don't  be  so  silly,"  she  remon- 
strated. "  I  only  called  you  that  in  fun,  because 
Nathalie  said  it  was  your  school  nickname." 

"  Yes,  and  Rex  Barrett  gave  it  to  me." 

"  "Well,  suppose  he  did  ?  He  hasn't  the  sole 
right  to  its  use ;  has  he  ?  " 

"  No ;  but Confound  it !  Can't  you  see 

that  the  fellows  wouldn't  use  it  as  they  do,  if 
they  liked  me  ?  " 

"  How  do  you  know  they  don't  like  you  ?  " 

"  "Watch  them  and  see." 

"  Why  don't  they  like  you  ?  "  she  went  on  re- 
morselessly, for  she  saw  that  her  cousin  was 
really  in  trouble,  and  she  resolved  to  do  her  best 
to  get  to  the  bottom  of  that  trouble.  Then  she 
pulled  aside  her  skirts  invitingly.  "  Sit  down 
here,  like  a  dear  old  boy,  and  tell  me  all  about 
it." 

It  was  a  girlish  face  that  looked  up  at  him ; 
but  the  tone  was  maternal,  and  it  soothed  to 
some  extent  the  boy's  irritation.  Nevertheless, 
his  dignity  demanded  a  final  remonstrance. 


138  URSULA'S  FRESHMAN 

"I  do  wish  you  would  attend  to  your  own 
affairs,"  he  grumbled. 

However,  he  took  possession  of  the  sofa  corner 
at  her  side. 

She  let  him  sit  there  while  the  silence  grew 
irksome  to  him.  Then  she  said  abruptly, — 

"  Jack,  I  don't  want  to  be  a  bore ;  but  I  do 
wish  you  would  tell  me  what  all  this  nonsense 
is,  about  the  boys  not  liking  you." 

He  had  thought  she  had  abandoned  the  sub- 
ject, and  her  sudden  return  to  it  took  him  by 
surprise.  His  surprise  led  him  into  a  frankness 
which  astonished  even  himself. 

"I  don't  know  as  I  blame  them.  In  their 
places,  I  shouldn't  like  the  fellow  I  seem  to  be. 
I  can't  help  it ;  it  really  isn't  my  fault.  I  can't 
keep  my  mother  from  saying  things  and  moon- 
ing about  me,  as  if  I  were  the  prince  of  milksops. 
I  hate  it ;  but  the  hating  it  doesn't  do  any  good. 
She  says  things,  and  the  fellows  get  hold  of 
them,  and  of  course  they  think  I'm  a  fool.  And 
then  I  do  hate  baseball  and  those  things,  and  I 
like  to  have  an  occasional  shampoo.  And  I 
honestly  like  to  study." 

"You  make  yourself  out  a  desperate  case, 
Jackie,"  Ursula  said,  as  he  paused  for  breath. 

"  But  it  is  a  fact.  It  has  gone  about  among 
the  fellows  that  I'm  a  sissy,  and  they  take  it  for 


URSULA'S  FRESHMAN  139 

granted  that  the  story  is  true,  and  let  me  alone. 
I  pretend  I  don't  care.  I  don't,  much  ;  but  once 
in  a  while  I  hear  the  things  they  say  behind  my 
back,  and  it  makes  me  furious.  You  know, 
yourself,  there's  not  a  word  of  truth  in  them ; 
now  don't  you  ?  " 

Ursula  flinched  at  the  direct  question.  She 
scorned  fibbing ;  but  just  now  she  did  wish  that 
the  truth  were  a  shade  less  brutal. 

"  Don't  you  ? "  John  demanded  again,  as  he 
saw  her  hesitate. 

She  raised  her  eyes  to  his. 

"  Jackie,"  she  said  honestly ;  "  you  mustn't  be 
too  wrathy  at  me,  when  I  say  that,  when  I  first 
came  here,  you  did  seem  to  me  deadly  decorous. 
Wait !  I  said  '  when  I  first  came  here.'  That 
doesn't  mean  now,  for,  the  longer  I  know  you, 
the  more  I  am  finding  out  that  you  are  a  good 
deal  of  a  boy.  I'm  not  quite  sure  I  could  get  on 
without  you,  Jack,  even  if  I  do  tease  the  life  out 
of  you.  But,  when  I  came  here,  I  had  been  used 
to  boys  that  lived  out  of  doors,  that  played  ball 
and  went  fishing  barefoot,  that  built  snow  forts 
and  fought  in  them,  too,  that  didn't  have  a  de- 
cent suit  of  clothes  more  than  once  in  three  or 
four  years.  They  were  most  mortally  nice  boys, 
too ;  and  some  of  them  knew  as  much  about 
books  as  you  do.  Then  I  came  here,  and  found 


140  URSULA'S  FRESHMAN 

you  always  spick  and  span,  always  with  a  book 
and  never  with  a  bat ;  and  Aunt  Ursula  told  me 
you  were  refined  and  delicate  and — well,  you 
looked  it.  You  do  look  it,  Jackie ;  but  it's  only 
skin  deep." 

"But  I  can't  help  my  looks,"  he  protested. 
"  You  don't  want  me  to  go  dirty  ;  do  you  ?  " 

In  spite  of  herself,  Ursula  laughed  at  his  tone. 

"  You  couldn't,  if  you  tried.  It  wouldn't  stick 
to  you.  Still,  you  needn't  be  too  finicky." 

John's  chin  rested  on  his  hands,  his  elbows 
on  his  knees,  and  he  was  scowling  at  the 
floor. 

"I  don't  know  but  I  am  priggy,  Ursula.  It 
comes  of  being  an  only  son,  I  suppose." 

"It  comes  more  from  having  a  mother  who 
thinks  nothing  is  quite  good  enough  for  you," 
Ursula  responded  uncompromisingly.  "  She 
would  like  to  keep  you  in  cotton  wool  under  a 
glass  cover ;  but  it's  not  according  to  a  state  of 
natur'.  You're  a  boy,  just  an  ordinary  boy ; 
and  she  may  as  well  find  it  out  and  face  the  fact, 
first  as  last." 

"  Do  you  know,"  John's  tone  was  thoughtful ; 
"  it  hasn't  been  half  bad,  your  being  here,  Ursula. 
You've  stirred  up  things  and  made  no  end  of  a 
row ;  but,  after  all,  I  believe  I  should  miss  you, 
if  you  went  away." 


URSULA'S  FRESHMAN  141 

Once  more  Ursula  touched  his  hand. 

"  Ditto,  Jackie,"  she  said  gravely. 

Suddenly  she  rose  and  faced  him. 

"  Jack,  now  see  here  !  Granted  that  your — 
well,  your  prigginess — is  only  skin  deep,  and  you 
are  all  right  underneath,  how  are  we  going  to 
make  the  boys  see  it  as  we  do  ?  " 

"  We  can't.  Still,  it  is  something  to  have  you 
admit  it." 

Ursula  frowned. 

"Precious  little.  They've  got  to  admit  it, 
too.  Likewise,  you've  got  to  improve,  yourself. 
There's  room  for  it.  But  about  the  boys :  they 
must  come  here  more." 

"  They  won't." 

"They  will,  if  we  ask  them.  Your  mother 
won't  mind  ;  will  she  ?  " 

"  No  ;  she  would  have  a  party,  every  week,  if 
I  asked  her." 

Ursula  shook  her  head. 

"  Parties  aren't  of  any  use.  What  you  want 
is  to  have  a  few  of  the  boys  get  a  trick  of  run- 
ning in  here.  Who  is  the  head  one  ?  " 

"  I'm  not  sure.     Kex  Barrett  used  to  be." 

"  But  he  wasn't  in  school." 

"  No  ;  but  just  the  same  he  ruled  all  the  fel- 
lows who  count  for  anything.  He  was  the  first 
one " 


142  URSULAS  FRESHMAN 

"  To  call  you  Pettijohn  ?  "Well,  let  him  be  the 
first  one  to  call  you  something  else." 

"  How  are  you  going  to  do  it  ?  " 

"  The  easiest  thing  in  the  world.  He  is  com- 
ing home,  next  week." 

"  What  of  it  ?  " 

"  Ask  your  mother  to  have  him  and  Nathalie 
here  to  dinner." 

"  He  won't  come." 

"  Why  not  ?  " 

"  He's  an  awful  snob." 

Ursula  frowned  again.  Upon  certain  points 
she  was  obdurate. 

"  What  of  that  ?  That  doesn't  make  any  dif- 
ference with  us  Thains.  Besides,  he  will  do 
whatever  Nathalie  Arterburn  says,  and  I  know 
she  likes  you." 

"  She  never  saw  me  but  once." 

"  Stop  interrupting.  She  liked  you  then.  If 
your  mother  invites  them,  they'll  come.  If  they 

once  get  here,  I'll  see  to  it  that "  she 

dropped  her  downright  tone,  and  cocked  her 
eyes  at  him  saucily ;  "  that  Rex  Barrett  wants 
to  come  again.  Trust  me  for  that."  There  was 
the  shortest  possible  pause.  Then  her  voice 
grew  gentle  once  more.  "  Are  you  very,  very 
wrathy  at  me  now,  Jackie  ?  " 


URSULA'S  FRESHMAN  143 


CHAPTER  ELEVEN 

URSULA  THAIN  was  neither  mouse  nor 
man,  yet  it  came  to  pass  that  her  best- 
laid  plans  did  "  gang  aglae."  The  way  of  it  was 
this. 

It  had  been  the  easiest  thing  in  the  world  for 
Ursula  to  gain  her  aunt's  consent  to  her  sugges- 
tion that  Nathalie  Arterburn  and  Kingsley  Bar- 
rett should  be  bidden  to  dinner.  The  matter 
was  settled  over  the  cereal,  the  next  morning  at 
breakfast.  Two  hours  later,  Ursula  started  for 
the  Arterburns',  sure  of  an  easy  victory  all  along 
the  line. 

To  her  surprise,  she  found  Nathalie  a  little 
hostile  to  the  idea. 

"  I'll  come,"  she  said  promptly.  "  I'd  like  to. 
I  had  a  good  time  before,  and  I  liked  John  im- 
mensely, the  day  we  went  to  walk.  But  truly, 
Ursula,  I  can't  promise  for  Rex.  He  doesn't  ask 
me  about  his  invitations." 

"  He  will  about  this  one,  though,"  Ursula  pre- 
dicted confidently.  "  If  he  does,  I  want  you  to 
coax  him  to  come." 


144  URSULA'S  FRESHMAN 

"  But  I  don't  see  why  I  should.  He  is  only  to 
be  at  home  for  three  weeks  and  he  has  any  num- 
ber of  friends." 

Ursula  dropped  her  voice  impressively,  as  she 
answered, — 

"  That  is  just  the  point.     John  hasn't." 

"  I'm  sorry,"  Nathalie  said  politely.  "  Still,  I 
really  don't  see  what  Hex  can  do  about  it." 

"  Don't  you  ?  "  Ursula  bit  her  lip  thought- 
fully for  a  minute ;  then  she  told  over  to  Nath- 
alie certain  parts  of  her  talk  with  John,  the 
evening  before. 

Nathalie  listened  intently. 

"  What  night  did  you  say  ? "  she  asked  at 
length. 

"  When  does  he  get  here  ?  " 

"  Rex  ?    Next  Wednesday." 

"  Saturday,  then." 

"Well,"  Nathalie  said  slowly.  "I'll  do  the 
very  best  I  can." 

Wednesday  noon  brought  Kingsley  Barrett 
home.  Over  the  lunch  table,  he  submitted  to 
the  adulations  of  his  parents.  Then  he  betook 
himself  in  search  of  Nathalie  Arterburn.  He 
found  her,  washing  dishes,  and  he  promptly  set- 
tled his  tall  person  on  the  table  in  the  diminutive 
kitchen,  where  he  swung  his  heels  and  recounted 
to  his  hostess  the  latest  tidings  from  the  class. 


URSULAS  FRESHMAN  145 

They  had  not  met  since  Thanksgiving,  and  there 
was  much  to  be  told. 

At  length  Nathalie  shook  out  her  dishcloth 
with  a  sigh  of  relief,  and  hung  up  her  apron. 

"  There  !  "  she  said.  "  That  is  done,  at  last,  so 
now  you  can  come  into  the  parlor  and  let  me 
look  at  you." 

Obediently  he  followed  her  into  the  parlor, 
where  he  sent  the  shades  whirring  up  to  the  top 
of  the  windows,  placed  himself  in  the  strong 
sunshine  and  smilingly  awaited  her  approval.  In 
her  secret  heart,  she  gave  it  unreservedly,  for, 
while  he  was  by  no  means  handsome,  he  was 
goodly  to  look  upon.  Nevertheless,  though  her 
eyes  rested  on  him  with  perfect  satisfaction,  she 
felt  that  it  was  not  seemly  for  her  to  express  that 
satisfaction. 

"  Your  necktie  is  shocking,"  she  said. 

"  The  latest  thing  from  Chase's,  ma'am." 

"  No  matter.  It  isn't  becoming,  and  I  don't 
especially  like  the  collar." 

His  smile  broadened. 

"  Sorry.     What  about  me,  myself  ?  " 

She  laughed  and  shook  her  head. 

"  The  same  old  sixpence.  I'm  not  sure,  though, 
that  I'd  care  to  change  it  for  a  brand-new  shill- 
ing." 

His  laugh  echoed  her  own. 


146  URSULAS  FRESHMAN 

"And  we've  three  whole  weeks  to  racket 
around  in.  Won't  it  seem  good  ?  We'll  start  in 
right  now.  You  and  Mr.  Arterburn  are  to  do 
dinner  and  the  theatre  with  us,  to-night.  How  is 
the  dear  old  fellow  ?  " 

"  Thriving  and  almost  getting  fat.  He  has  a 
new  pupil,  and  we  are  living  on  the  fleshpots, 
nowadays." 

"  Oh,  yes,  I  remember.  The  mater  did  write 
to  me  about  it.  It's  a  country  cousin  of  Petti- 
john  Myers ;  isn't  it  ?  " 

"  Yes.  We  do  lessons  together.  I'm  a  forma- 
tive influence." 

"  She  must  be  in  a  bad  way,  then.  Is  she  very 
awful?" 

She  repelled  the  suggestion  proudly. 

"  Hal  doesn't  take  awful  pupils." 

Kingsley  settled  himself  in  the  largest  chair 
which  the  room  afforded.  Even  then,  he  over- 
flowed the  chair. 

"  He  took  me,"  he  observed  tranquilly. 

"  Yes,  and  you  half  killed  him.  But  Ursula 
isn't  like  you.  She  is  really  a  very  bright  girl. 
You  can  see  for  yourself,  though.  You  and  I 
are  to  eat  dinner  with  her,  next  Saturday." 

"  The  deuce  we  are  !  "  Kingsley  sat  up  abruptly. 

Nathalie  leaned  back  in  her  chair  and  spoke 
with  a  matter-of-course  indifference. 


URSULA'S  FRESHMAN  147 

"  Yes,  I  accepted  for  us  both.  I  couldn't  well 
get  out  of  it,  and  I  knew  you  would  stand  by 
me." 

"Not  if  the  court  knows  herself,"  Kingsley 
replied  energetically. 

"  But  she  is  pretty." 

"  He  isn't." 

"  Who  is  He  f  " 

"  Pettijohn  Myers." 

"  But  I  shall  talk  to  him.  You  can  play  the 
agreeable  to  her,  and,  as  I  say,  she  is  very 
pretty." 

"  Don't  care." 

"  And  she  knows  how  to  dress." 

"  Let  her." 

"  And  we  needn't  stay  so  very  late." 

"  You  bet  we  won't !  We'll  go  away,  just  a 
few  minutes  before  we  get  there,"  Kingsley  re- 
sponded. 

Nathalie  shook  her  yellow  head  at  him  disap- 
provingly. 

"Kex,  you  must  go,  there's  a  good  boy.  I 
have  promised,  and  I  can't  go  alone." 

Kingsley  was  on  his  legs,  by  this  time.  No 
man,  not  even  a  student,  attempts  to  refuse  a 
woman's  request,  while  he  is  seated. 

"  Now  look  here,  Nathalie,"  he  protested ; 
"  I'll  do  a  good  deal  for  you.  I  have  done  some 


148  URSULAS  FRESHMAN 

of  it  already.  I've  lugged  charity  bundles  down 
town  in  New  York  for  you  ;  and  I  have  hunted 
slums  in  London  with  you.  Once  upon  a  time,  I 
even  toted  a  mongrel  cur  the  length  and  breadth 
of  Fifth  Avenue  in  your  behalf.  I  have  done  all 
that;  but  I  must  draw  the  line  somewhere.  I 
will  not  go  with  you  to  gnaw  any  bones  pro- 
vided by  Petti  John  Myers." 

A  mocking  dimple  showed  itself  in  Nathalie's 
cheek.  Kingsley  was  very  large,  very  impress- 
ive ;  but  she  had  heard  him  protest  before. 

"  Kex,"  she  said  severely ;  "  you  were  alwa}^s 
a  snob ;  but  you  ought  to  have  learned  better  by 
this  time.  What  has  your  college  life  done  for 
you,  if  it  hasn't  taught  you  not  to  be  snobbish  ?  " 

"  It  has  taught  me  to  loathe  prigs  and  to  abhor 
grinds,"  he  answered  calmly.  "  Pettijohn  Myers 
is  both." 

Nathalie  rose,  as  if  to  end  the  discussion. 

"  Pettijohn  Myers  is  not  half  bad,  and  he  has 
a  cousin  who  is  really  worth  seeing.  It  won't 
last  very  long,  anyway,  and  I  have  promised  for 
us  both.  You  may  as  well  give  in  gracefully,  for 
you  are  going." 

Kingsley  surveyed  her  from  the  lofty  summit 
of  his  academic  dignity. 

"  Oh,  by  Jove,  Nathalie,  you " 

But  she  interrupted  him  saucily. 


URSULA'S  FRESHMAN  149 

"And  please  do  wear  some  other  kind  of  a 
necktie.  I  should  hate  to  have  you  appear  in 
that  hangman's  knot.  You  never  could  live  it 
down." 

Twilight  falls  early  in  December,  and  by  five 
o'clock  of  the  next  Saturday  afternoon,  the  Myers 
house  was  lighted  for  the  coming  guests.  Ursula 
took  one  last  look  at  the  rooms,  inspected  the 
American  Beauty  roses  for  the  dinner  table,  and 
then  went  to  her  room  to  dress  for  the  great  event. 

It  must  be  confessed  that,  by  this  time,  Ursula's 
dressing  was  a  longer  operation  than  it  had  been 
in  Lucre tia.  An  injudicious  aunt  and  a  large  plate- 
glass  mirror  had  been  unknown  quantities  in  the 
little  Iowa  parsonage,  and  both  of  them  of  late 
had  been  suggesting  to  Ursula  that  not  only  was 
she  pretty,  but  that  even  a  pretty  girl  could  be 
improved  by  careful  dressing.  Moreover,  it  was 
much  more  interesting  work  to  dress,  now  that 
one's  toilet  accessories  were  of  ivory  and  decorated 
with  one's  own  monogram  in  great  black  letters. 
Ursula  took  to  luxury,  as  a  duck  takes  to  water, 
naturally  and  with  swiftness. 

To-night,  she  was  wearing  a  new  gown  for  the 
first  time.  It  had  only  come  home,  late  that 
afternoon,  and  Ursula,  as  she  hooked  and  but- 
toned and  tied  herself  into  it  and  then  turned 
herself  this  way  and  that,  could  not  help  wishing 


150  URSULAS  FRESHMAN 

that  her  mother  and  Molly  could  see  her  in  her 
finery.  Poor  Molly  !  Molly's  winter  gown  was 
one  of  her  own,  hemmed  up  to  fit  the  shorter 
legs  of  its  new  wearer.  It  was  very  much 
trimmed,  too,  and  the  lines  all  ran  round  and 
round,  as  if  to  emphasize  the  pudgy  curves  of  a 
growing  girl. 

Ursula  patted  her  well-fitting  shoulders  con- 
tentedly, and  her  lip  curled  a  little,  at  the 
thought  of  that  dowdy,  over-trimmed  gown 
which  was  doomed  to  pass  on  down  the  line 
of  young  Thains  from  Molly  to  Baby  Jane. 
Then  she  rebuked  herself  sharply.  More  loving 
thought  had  gone  into  those  patient  stitches 
than  into  all  the  new  gowns  she  had  had  since 
she  came  to  New  York. 

Abruptly  she  pulled  open  a  bureau  drawer  and 
took  out  a  box.  Inside  the  box  was  another 
of  yellowing  white  paper,  shiny  and  with  silver 
edges.  She  opened  the  inner  box  and  lifted  out 
a  thin,  old-fashioned  locket  hanging  from  a 
slender  chain.  For  one  minute,  she  held  it  unde- 
cidedly. Then  she  took  off  her  gold  beads, 
clasped  the  chain  around  her  neck  and,  bending 
her  head,  rubbed  the  locket  caressingly  against 
her  cheek. 

Five  minutes  later,  she  followed  her  aunt 
down-stairs. 


URSULA'S  FRESHMAN  151 

"  Come  here,  Ursula,"  Mrs.  Myers  called.  "  I 
want  to  see  your  gown." 

Ursula  presented  herself,  smiling,  and  waited 
for  approval.  According  to  her  custom,  her 
aunt  looked  her  over  in  detail ;  but,  this  time, 
she  began  at  her  feet. 

"  You  changed  your  shoes  ?  That's  right. 
Your  skirt  hangs  beautifully.  Yiger  always 
succeeds  there.  It  is  good  shape  over  the  hips, 
too.  Those  new  sleeves  are  certainly  very 
pretty.  I  think  I'll  have  some  of  them.  And 

your What  in  the  world  have  you  strung 

around  your  neck  ?  " 

"It's  my  locket." 

"I  should  call  it  a  tin  plate.  Where  did 
you  ever  get  it  ?  " 

Ursula's  eyes  flashed  ominously  ;  but  she  only 
said,— 

"My  mother  gave  it  to  me.  It  is  one  my 
father  gave  her,  when  they  were  engaged.  It 
has  both  their  pictures  in  it." 

"  It  looks  as  if  it  might  hold  the  whole 
family.  Let  me  see  it.  Well,  run  and  take 
it  off." 

"  But  I'm  going  to  wear  it." 

Her  aunt  laughed  gently. 

"  Oh,  no ;  I  wouldn't." 

"  I  want  to." 


152  URSULAS  FRESHMAN 

"You  can't  wear  that  thing,  Ursula.  It  is 
a  perfect  cartwheel.  You  look  as  if  you  were 
wearing  a  breastplate." 

Ursula  undertook  to  argue  with  her  aunt. 

"It  was  my  mother's,  and  she  gave  it  to 
me." 

"  That  may  be ;  but  she  didn't  expect  you  to 
wear  it." 

"  Yes,  she  did.  She  said  I  could  wear  it  some- 
times, when  I  needed  to  dress  up." 

Mrs.  Myers  winced  at  the  closing  phrase. 

"  Nice  people  never  dress  up,  Ursula." 

"Why  not?  I'm  dressed  up  now,"  she  an- 
swered rebelliously. 

"  No ;  you  are  dressed." 

"  Of  course  I  am.  I  should  hope  I  wasn't  un- 
dressed," Ursula  responded,  with  some  spirit. 

Mrs.  Myers  waived  that  question  and  returned 
to  the  first  issue. 

"You'd  better  take  the  locket  off  now,  Ur- 
sula." 

"I  told  you  I  was  going  to  wear  it.  It 
was  my  mother's,  and  she  gave  it  to  me  to  wear 
when  I  was  dressed  up.  It  was  the  only  piece 
of  jewelry  she  had,  except  her  cameo  bracelet, 
and  she  said  I  was  too  young  for  that,"  Ursula 
explained  hotly. 

"  I  am  glad  she  had  so  much  sense,"  Mrs. 


URSULA'S  FRESHMAN  153 

Myers  answered  a  little  rashly,  for  she  had  scant 
respect  for  the  taste  of  her  sister-in-law. 

"  What  do  you  mean  by  that  ? "  Ursula  de- 
manded. 

"  I  mean  that  your  mother  has  lived  out  of  the 
world  for  so  long  that  she  doesn't  know  just 
what  is  proper  or  suitable  for  you  here.  That 
locket  is  entirely  unsuitable  for  a  girl  like  you  to 
wear." 

"  I  can't  help  that." 

"  And  it  spoils  your  gown." 

"  Let  it." 

"And  young  girls  should  never  wear  lock- 
ets." 

"  I  am  going  to  wear  this.  My  mother  said  I 
might." 

"  Ursula ! "  Mrs.  Myers  spoke  with  decision, 
for  her  patience  was  exhausted.  In  her  eyes, 
the  locket  was  as  preposterous  as  it  was  unsuited 
to  the  neck  of  a  schoolgirl,  and  she  was  de- 
termined that  no  Kingsley  Barrett  should  ever 
look  upon  such  a  hideous  adjunct  to  the  pretty 
toilet  of  her  pretty  niece. 

Ursula  answered  flatly,  for  she  too  was  be- 
coming reckless. 

"  What,  ma'am  ?  " 

"  Go  to  your  room  at  once  and  take  off  the 
locket.  I  wish  you  to  obey  me,  and  to  obey  me 


154  URSULAS  FRESHMAN 

promptly,  for  it  is  almost  time  that  Nathalie 
and  her  friend  were  here." 

It  was  the  first  time  she  had  ever  spoken 
to  Ursula  in  that  tone,  and  the  girl  resented 
it  bitterly.  The  blood  rushed  to  her  face,  and  a 
little  angry  shiver  ran  across  her  shoulders ;  but 
she  controlled  herself  and  turned  away,  her  eyes 
blazing,  her  chin  in  the  air,  furious,  dauntless, 
but  wounded  to  the  quick.  She  crossed  the 
room  and  went  up  the  stairs  with  steady  delib- 
eration. Once  inside  her  room,  however,  she 
rushed  across  the  floor  and  cast  herself  down 
upon  the  foot  of  her  bed. 

The  pink  roses  on  the  walls  had  faced  no  such 
storm  before.  It  came  in  gusts,  and  the  girl 
writhed  with  their  fury.  It  was  cruel,  she  told 
herself,  to  grudge  her  this  one  bit  of  sentiment,  to 
speak  of  her  mother  with  this  scorn,  to  tie  her 
down  by  the  laws  of  a  life  which,  for  the  moment, 
she  hated  with  all  the  fervor  of  her  passionate 
little  nature.  Rising  on  her  elbow,  she  opened 
the  locket  and  looked  long  at  the  faces  within,  at 
her  mother,  quiet  and  steadfast  even  in  her  girl- 
ishness,  at  her  father  whose  young  eyes  looked 
back  at  her  with  a  fire  like  that  which  was  burn- 
ing in  her  own.  She  covered  the  faces  with 
hasty,  nervous  kisses ;  yet  the  sight  of  them  took 
away  somewhat  of  the  bitterness  from  her  crying, 


URSULAS  FRESHMAN  155 

and  left  in  its  place  an  utter  homesickness.  She 
had  been  so  happy  at  home.  The  old  life  had 
been  pinched  and  meagre ;  yet  in  a  sense  it  was 
fuller  than  any  she  had  known  in  New  York. 
Her  mother  might  be  ignorant  of  the  ways  of 
the  world  ;  but  at  least  she  did  know  the  ways 
which  led  to  healthy  living.  And  her  face,  in 
spite  of  the  wrinkles,  was  so  good  to  look  into. 
Ursula  buried  her  own  face  in  her  arms  once 
more,  quite  regardless  of  the  fact  that  her  puffy 
new  sleeves  were  all  crushed  and  spotted  with 
her  tears. 

Vaguely  and  as  if  in  a  dream,  she  heard  the 
bell  ring,  and  then  the  voices  in  the  hall ;  but 
she  was  too  exhausted  with  crying,  too  utterly 
wretched  to  heed  them.  She  roused  herself, 
however,  when  there  came  a  rap  upon  her  door. 

"Miss  Ursula,"  Maggie  was  saying;  "Mrs. 
Myers  says  that  Miss  Arterburn  is  here,  and  that 
you  are  to  come  down  at  once." 

Unbeknown  to  herself,  the  maid's  voice  echoed 
something  of  the  sharpness  which  had  rung  in 
the  tone  of  her  mistress,  when  the  order  had 
been  given.  It  struck  Ursula  like  a  knife,  and 
it  cut  away  all  her  coming  gentleness.  She 
sprang  up  angrily,  took  one  or  two  turns  up  and 
down  the  room,  then  paused  before  her  mirror 
and  stared  at  herself,  at  her  swollen  face,  at  her 


156  URSULA'S  FRESHMAN 

crushed  and  tear-stained  gown.  For  a  moment, 
the  tears  hung  on  her  lashes  again ;  then  the 
lips  beneath  shut  together  in  a  resolute  line,  and 
she  began  untying,  unbuttoning  and  unhooking 
herself  with  a  steely  determination. 

Down-stairs  in  the  parlor,  her  aunt  was  fast 
becoming  nervous,  as  moment  after  moment 
passed  by,  and  no  Ursula  appeared.  Nathalie, 
dainty  as  ever  in  her  same  rose-colored  gown,  was 
chattering  gayly  to  John  who  was  manifestly  at 
his  best,  that  night.  Mrs.  Myers  herself  was 
trying  to  entertain  Kingsley  Barrett,  and  she 
was  fully  aware  that  her  young  guest  was  feel- 
ing himself  badly  bored.  The  Kingsley  Barrett 
who  had  sat  upon  Nathalie  Arterburn's  kitchen 
table  was  quite  another  Kingsley  from  the  youth 
who  occupied  Mrs.  Myers's  cream-colored  satin 
chair  and  wrapped  himself  in  the  mantle  of  his 
freshman  dignity.  He  was  perfectly  polite,  also 
perfectly  inaccessible.  Mrs.  Myers  wondered 
impatiently  if  her  niece  had  fallen  asleep. 

At  last  Ursula's  step  was  heard  on  the  stairs, 
and  four  pairs  of  eyes  sought  the  door  expect- 
antly. The  next  instant,  four  pairs  of  lungs 
gasped,  and  the  eyes  widened  in  consternation. 

With  her  cheeks  blazing,  her  eyes  shining  like 
incandescent  lights  and  her  lips  shut  firmly  to- 
gether, Ursula  stood  on  the  parlor  threshold. 


URSULA'S  FRESHMAN  157 

Above  her  bunchy  brown  skirt  was  a  vivid 
magenta  bodice,  crossed  with  lines  of  rusty  black 
velvet.  A  blue  satin  ribbon  was  around  her 
neck,  and  on  the  front  of  the  magenta  bodice, 
like  a  huge  and  fishy  eye,  gleamed  a  thin  locket 
of  pale,  old-fashioned  gold. 


158  URSULAS  FRESHMAN 


CHAPTER  TWELYE 

"X  TOTWITHSTANDING  the  fact  that  lessons 
J.  N  had  been  abandoned  during  the  holidays, 
the  next  Monday  morning  found  Ursula  on  her 
way  to  the  Arterburns'  apartment.  Half  a 
block  from  the  door,  she  met  Nathalie  and  her 
brother. 

"  Oh,  you  are  just  going  out ! "  she  exclaimed 
in  obvious  disappointment. 

"  Not  for  very  long.  I  must  go  down  town 
with  Harry ;  but  I'm  not  going  to  stay,"  Nath- 
alie answered.  "  If  you  aren't  in  a  hurry,  why 
don't  you  take  my  key,  and  go  in  and  wait  till  I 
get  back  ?  " 

"I  don't  know,"  Ursula  said  hesitatingly. 
"  Are  you  sure  you  won't  hurry  back  on  my  ac- 
count ?  " 

"  I  can't.  "We  have  an  engagement  with  Dr. 
Holden,  and  we  must  keep  it,  of  course.  It 
won't  take  very  long,  though." 

"I'll  wait,  then.  I  did  want  to  see  you 
so  much."  Ursula's  voice  broke  on  the  last 
words. 


URSULA'S  FRESHMAN  159 

Harry  Arterburn  laughed  a  little,  as  they 
passed  on  out  of  hearing. 

"  Poor  little  tornado  !  She  looks  as  if  she  had 
had  a  hard  time,  the  last  day  or  two." 

"  She  had  a  hard  time,  that  night,"  Nathalie 
responded  feelingly.  "  Mrs.  Myers,  without 
making  the  least  social  break,  contrived  to  im- 
press upon  us  all  that  Ursula  was  to  be  sent  to 
Coventry." 

"  How  did  Ursula  go  through  it  ?  " 

"  With  splendid  grit.  She  was  perfectly  polite 
to  her  aunt ;  but  she  didn't  give  in  one  inch  to 
her.  I  really  think  she  wasn't  half  so  frightened 
as  I  was." 

Harry  shook  his  head  in  dissent. 

"You  can't  always  tell  about  Ursula  Thain. 
In  a  way,  she  is  a  little  tempest ;  but  she  has 
great  self-control.  She  is  a  queer  compound ;  but 
she  has  good  stuff  in  her.  What  set  her  off,  in 
the  first  place  ?  " 

"  I  haven't  any  idea.  Neither  had  John.  I 
asked  him,  and  he  showed  that  he  wasn't  fibbing, 
when  he  said  he  didn't  know.  I  think  she  will 
tell  me,  this  morning.  She  generally  does  tell 
me  things,  and  this  is  the  first  chance  she  has 
had.  But,  Harry,  such  a  picture  as  she  was  !  " 

"  I  can  imagine." 

"  No ;  you  can't.     You  can't  have  any  idea  of 


160  URSULA'S  FRESHMAN 

those  preposterous  clothes.  Outside  of  a  night- 
mare, you  never  saw  the  like  of  them.  And  yet 
it  seems  to  me  I  saw  that  same  combination  of 
colors  once  before.  But  do  you  realize  that  I  had 
coaxed  Rex  Barrett  to  go,  on  the  plea  that  she 
was  pretty  and  well-dressed  enough  to  pay  for 
seeing  ?  " 

"  What  did  Rex  do  ?  " 

Nathalie  laughed  at  the  memory. 

"  I  never  shall  forget  the  way  he  looked,  when 
she  came  in,  with  her  face  swollen  and  red  as  a 
lobster.  She  must  have  been  crying  her  eyes 
out,  up-stairs.  You  see,  it  was  ages  before  she 
came  down.  I  talked  to  John,  and  Mrs.  Myers 
tried  to  talk  to  Rex.  She  tried  so  hard  that  she 
disgusted  him,  and  he  behaved  like  a  bored  clam, 
sat  up  straight  and  stiff  with  his  chin  hooked 
over  the  edge  of  his  tall  collar,  and  wouldn't 
say  anything.  I  knew  he  was  hating  her,  for 
she  kept  saying  things  were  '  nice ' ;  and  I  did 
wish  Ursula  would  hurry  up." 

"  And,  when  she  did  come,  you  wished  she  had 
stayed  away  ?  "  her  brother  suggested. 

"  No ;  for  then  the  fun  began.  "When  she  first 
came  in  sight,  Rex  was  so  astonished  that  his 
eyes  fairly  goggled  at  her.  But  Mrs.  Myers  be- 
gan snubbing  her  as  soon  as  she  appeared ;  and 
Rex,  in  sheer  contradictiousness  and  just  to  spite 


URSULA'S  FRESHMAN  161 

Mrs.  Myers,  began  to  play  the  agreeable  to  Ur- 
sula. He  treated  her  as  if  she  had  been  Cinder- 
ella herself,  till  I  was  half  jealous  of  her.  You 
know  he  always  could  be  perfectly  fascinating 
when  he  chose,  and  he  has  ever  so  many  new  airs 
and  graces,  since  he  came  home,  this  time." 

"  How  did  Mrs.  Myers  take  it  ?  " 

"  She  appeared  to  think  that  Kex  was  doing  it 
all  to  spare  her  feelings,  so,  the  more  he  devoted 
himself  to  Ursula,  the  more  she  smiled  on  him 
and  snubbed  her,  and  that  made  Rex  all  the  more 
killing  in  his  manners.  I  did  so  wish  you  were 
there  to  see  it  all ;  it  was  like  being  the  one  per- 
son in  the  audience  at  a  really  good  theatre.  I 
wanted  somebody  to  hit  elbows  with." 

"  What  did  Rex  say  afterwards  ?  " 

"  That  was  the  strangest  part  of  the  whole," 
Nathalie  answered  reflectively.  "  He  just  didn't 
seem  to  want  to  say  anything  about  it.  He 
talked  about  football,  all  the  way  home." 

"  Hm ! "  Harry  commented  thoughtfully. 
"  That  fellow  is  a  gentleman." 

"  I  could  have  told  you  that  before,"  his  sister 
answered  quickly. 

They  were  in  the  car  and  half  way  down  town, 
before  they  spoke  again.  Then  Nathalie  broke 
the  long  pause. 

"  Hal,  I  do  wish  you  would  talk  to  Ursula." 


162  URSULAS  FRESHMAN 

"I?    What  for?" 

"Because  there  isn't  anybody  else.  I  don't 
think  Ursula  is  quite  happy  here,  for  all  she  is  so 
full  of  fun.  She  has  days  when  she  is  as  home- 
sick as  she  can  be,  and  I  know  she  misses  her 
father.  She  has  told  me  so." 

Harry  Arterburn  looked  at  his  sister's  intent 
face,  and  smiled. 

"  But  really  I'm  not  quite  ready  to  take  the 
place  of  a  father  to  her,  chum." 

"No;  and  yet  you  might.  She  needs  some 
older  person  to  talk  things  over  with,  and  she 
hasn't  anybody.  I'm  not  old  enough,  and  her 
aunt  doesn't  understand  things." 

"  What  about  her  uncle  ?  " 

Nathalie  dismissed  Mr.  Myers  with  a  shrug  of 
her  shoulders. 

"  Oh,  he  is  too  busy,  making  money." 

"  Or  losing  it,"  Harry  suggested  carelessly. 

"  What  do  you  mean  ?  " 

Instantly  he  repented  his  ill-considered  words. 

"  Don't  speak  of  it  please,  Nathalie,"  he  said 
quickly.  "  It  may  be  nothing  at  all.  I  have 
happened  to  hear  a  rumor  that  Myers  and  Heath 
are  getting  a  little  shaky ;  but  I  had  no  business 
to  mention  it." 

"  Oh,  I  hope  not.  It  would  be  horrid  for  such 
people  to  go  poor ;  they  wouldn't  have  any  sense 


URSULAS  FRESHMAN  163 

about  getting  used  to  it.  But  Ursula  has  been 
trained  to  another  kind  of  living." 

"Yes.  The  Thains  evidently  cared  more  for 
books  and  brains  than  for  gowns  and  goodies,  and 
I  can  see  that  her  aunt's  point  of  view  might  be 
irritating  to  her.  Still,  the  girl  has  no  right  to 
accept  so  much  from  Mrs.  Myers,  and  then  turn 
defiant  in  the  middle  of  it." 

"  That's  just  what  I  want  you  to  say  to  her," 
Nathalie  assented  gravely.  "  Some  one  really 
ought  to  do  it,  and  there  isn't  anybody  else." 

"  I  wish  Mrs.  Barrett  would  take  her  in  hand." 

"  So  do  I ;  but  I  haven't  any  idea  that  she  will. 
Mrs.  Barrett  isn't  sufficiently  devoted  to  Mrs. 
Myers  to  care  much  about  knowing  Mrs.  Myers's 
poor  relations." 

"  Steady,  Nathalie  ! "  her  brother  advised  her. 
"  We  aren't  in  a  position  to  talk  about  poor  rela- 
tions, and  Mrs.  Barrett  has  done  everything  for 
us." 

Ursula,  meanwhile,  before  the  Arterburns' 
glowing  grate,  was  forgetting  her  woes  and  her 
worries  over  a  book.  The  woes  were  none  the 
less  real,  however,  nor  the  worries  less  insistent. 
The  past  thirty-six  hours  had  been  hours  of 
wretchedness  to  Ursula  Thain.  The  nervous  re- 
action from  her  passionate  outburst  had  left  her 
feeling  homesick,  forlorn  and  physically  ex- 


164  URSULA'S  FRESHMAN 

hausted ;  and  it  had  taken  all  her  courage  to  go 
through  the  evening  without  breaking  down. 
Again  and  again  she  longed  for  the  time  when 
her  guests  should  say  good-night ;  yet  the  misery 
of  entertaining  them  had  been  only  a  prelude  to 
the  misery  which  had  followed  when  her  aunt, 
with  merciless  frankness,  had  explained  to  her 
how  she  had  looked  as  she  had  entered  the  room. 
Mrs.  Myers  was  mistress  of  her  temper,  but  not 
of  her  sarcasm,  and  Ursula  had  writhed  in  spirit 
under  her  rebukes.  As  a  matter  of  course,  she 
had  cried  herself  to  sleep,  that  night ;  but  sleep 
cures  many  sorrows,  and  Ursula,  had  appeared  at 
breakfast,  the  next  morning,  fully  expecting  to 
be  received  as  cordially  as  if  nothing  unseemly 
had  occurred.  Instead  of  that,  she  had  been  met 
with  coldness  upon  all  sides.  Mrs.  Myers  was 
still  rather  indignant  at  her  niece,  and,  under  his 
mother's  eye,  John  dared  make  no  overtures  of 
friendship.  As  soon  as  breakfast  was  over,  he 
went  in  pursuit  of  his  cousin ;  but  Ursula,  in 
bitter  resentment,  had  taken  herself  out  of  the 
way,  and  he  saw  her  no  more  until  time  for 
lunch. 

Ursula  thought  over  a  good  many  things,  as 
she  sat  in  her  room,  that  Sunday  morning,  with 
the  open  locket  before  her.  Twice  she  began  a 
letter  to  her  parents,  telling  them  the  whole 


UfiSULA'S  FRESHMAN  165 

story  and  demanding  to  be  taken  home.  Twice 
she  destroyed  the  half-written  letter.  Three 
months  before  this  time,  her  mother  had  pre- 
dicted just  such  a  day  as  this,  and  had  bidden 
her,  when  that  day  came,  to  shut  her  teeth  and 
remember  mother  and  stick  it  out  till  she  felt 
better.  The  memory  called  for  more  looking  at 
the  locket  and  more  tears,  and  so  the  morning 
had  dragged  away. 

As  she  had  left  the  dining-room  after  a  stiff 
and  silent  lunch,  John  had  caught  her  hand  in  a 
grip  which  left  her  fingers  aching  for  an  hour 
afterwards.  The  grip  was  consoling  and,  for 
some  illogical  reason,  it  changed  her  point  of 
view  and  made  her  wonder  for  the  first  time 
whether  she  herself  might  not  have  been  a  little 
bit  to  blame.  As  her  aunt's  guest,  perhaps  she 
might  have  accepted  in  silence  her  aunt's  advice 
concerning  a  small  matter  of  dress.  And  had 
not  her  intended  revenge  upon  her  aunt  acted 
like  a  boomerang  and  humiliated  herself  ?  She 
had  promised  John  that,  once  Kingsley  Barrett 
was  in  the  house,  she  would  see  to  it  that  he 
wished  to  come  again.  And  how  had  she  kept 
her  promise  ?  She  blushed  hotly  at  the  memory 
of  the  tall,  keen-eyed  freshman  who  had  treated 
her  hideous  self  with  such  absolute  respect. 
Then,  all  at  once,  she  made  up  her  mind  to  pour 


166  URSULA'S  FRESHMAN 

the  whole  story  into  Nathalie  Arterburn's  ears, 
and  to  ask  for  her  sympathy  and  counsel. 

Just  as  she  paused  to  turn  a  leaf,  the  bell 
whirred  violently.  Ursula  hesitated  for  a  mo- 
ment ;  then,  as  she  reflected  that  she  was  in  pos- 
session of  Nathalie's  latchkey,  she  decided  that 
Nathalie  had  come  home  and  that  it  would  be 
well  to  let  her  into  the  apartment.  Dropping 
her  book,  she  rose  and  opened  the  door,  with  an 
eager, — 

"Oh,  I  began  to  think  you  never  would 
come !  " 

Then  she  drew  back  in  astonishment,  for  her 
eyes  rested,  not  upon  the  Nathalie  Arterburn 
whom  she  had  expected;  but  on  the  Kingsley 
Barrett  whom  she  had  been  seeking  to  dismiss 
from  her  mind. 

On  his  own  side,  Kingsley  was  scarcely  less 
surprised.  In  spite  of  his  evident  enjoyment  of 
the  situation,  the  Saturday  evening  before,  he 
had  felt  no  especial  aesthetic  pleasure  in  the 
badly-dressed  girl  with  the  tear-stained  face,  and 
he  had  constituted  himself  her  champion,  as 
Nathalie  had  surmised,  merely  in  a  spirit  of  op- 
position to  Mrs.  Myers.  He  had  liked  Ursula's 
grit  and  her  independence.  Otherwise  he  had 
scarcely  bestowed  upon  her  a  second  thought. 
Frumpy  brown-haired  girls  were  to  be  seen,  any 


URSULA'S  FRESHMAN  167 

day ;  he  preferred  Nathalie  Arterburn's  golden 
hair  and  dainty  habits. 

He  too  had  expected  to  see  Nathalie,  when  the 
door  opened.  Instead  of  that,  he  saw  a  slender 
girlish  figure  dressed  by  some  artist  hand,  and  a 
brilliant  girlish  face  above  a  loosened  collar  of 
fluffy  brown  fur.  From  under  the  brim  of  a 
broad  brown  hat,  two  brown  eyes  smiled  up  at 
him  with  evident  recognition ;  but  there  was 
no  answering  recognition  in  Kingsley  Barrett's 
eyes,  as  they  stared  down  at  the  girl  before 
him. 

The  girl's  smile  faded. 

"  Mr.  Eex  Barrett,  I  think  ? "  she  said  inter- 
rogatively. 

"  Yes.     Is  Miss  Arterburn  at  home  ?  " 

"  I  am  expecting  her,  every  minute.  Will  you 
come  in  and  wait  ?  " 

Clothes  make  the  man,  likewise  the  woman. 
Kingsley  Barrett  was  cudgelling  his  brains  for 
the  name  of  the  girl.  Both  her  voice  and  her 
eyes  were  familiar,  and  she  knew  him.  Where 
could  he  have  met  this  irreproachable  maiden ; 
and  how,  once  having  met  her,  could  he  have  for- 
gotten her  again  ? 

"  I  think  you'd  better  wait.  It  won't  be  long 
now,"  she  was  adding. 

And  Kingsley,  determined  to  find  out  who  she 


168  URSULAS  FRESHMAN 

was,  walked  into  the  parlor,  hat  in  hand,  and  es- 
tablished himself  in  his  favorite  chair. 

"  Haf  e  you  seen  Miss  Arterburn,  this  morn- 
ing ?  "  he  asked. 

"Yes,  I  met  her  just  outside  the  door,  and  she 
gave  me  the  key  to  come  in  and  wait.  She  and 
her  brother  had  an  engagement  with  Dr. 
Holden." 

"  Queer  thing  Mac  didn't  tell  me  ! "  Kingsley 
soliloquized. 

"  I  beg  your  pardon  ?  " 

"I  just  came  from  Dr.  Holden's  office,  and  he 
didn't  say  anything  about  it.  He  might  have 
known  I  would  be  coming  here,"  Kingsley  ex- 
plained. 

It  seemed  to  Ursula  that  the  explanation 
needed  no  comment,  and  the  silence  between 
them  broadened.  Kingsley  would  have  liked  to 
break  it ;  but  he  dared  make  no  leading  remark, 
lest  it  should  betray  his  ignorance  in  regard  to 
his  companion's  identity. 

"  It's  a  superb  sort  of  day,"  he  observed  tenta- 
tively at  length. 

"  Very,"  Ursula  assented. 

"  Have  you "  He  interrupted  himself  with 

a  sudden  fit  of  coughing. 

Ursula  waited. 

"  Well  ?  "  she  asked  politely,  after  an  interval. 


URSULA'S  FRESHMAN  169 

"  Have  you — er — been  skating,  this  winter  ?  " 
Kingsley  asked  desperately. 

"  No.     My  cousin  is  to  take  me,  to-mo|row." 

"  Cousin  ?  Now  who  the  deuce  has  a  cousin  ?  " 
Kingsley  queried  blankly  of  himself.  Then  he 
went  on,  "  It  was  fine  skating  at  New  Haven, 
when  I  left.  You've  been  there ;  haven't  you  ?  " 

The  question  appeared  to  amuse  her. 

"Been  there!  I  should  think  I  had.  That 
was  the  first  place  that  I  ever  saw  you." 

Kingsley  looked  slightly  abashed. 

"  Of  course.     How  stupid  of  me  to  forget  it !  " 

"  Did  you  remember  it,  too  ?  " 

"Do  you  suppose  I  forget  things  of  that 
kind?"  he  asked  tactfully.  " Not  even  a  fresh- 
man does  that." 

Ursula  laughed  again. 

"  Did  you  ever  know  that  I  took  you  for  a 
senior  ?  " 

"  By  Jove,  no !  That  must  have  been  before 
you  danced  with  me,  though." 

She  looked  up  at  him  keenly. 

"  When  did  I  dance  with  you  ?  " 

It  occurred  to  Kingsley  that  his  companion's 
chaff  was  taking  a  curious  form.  However,  he 
had  no  intention  of  carrying  off  the  situation  up 
to  this  point,  merely  in  order  to  ruin  it  now. 

"  Why — that  first  time  I  saw  you,  of  course." 


170  URSULA'S  FRESHMAN 

Ursula's  mouth  puckered  ominously. 

"  I  don't  know  how  it  is  with  you,  Mr.  Bar- 
rett ;  but,  as  a  rule,  I  don't  dance  in  street  cars 
with  strange  young  men." 

Kingsley  stared  at  her  for  a  moment,  still  puz- 
zling over  the  familiar  voice.  Then,  leaning 
back  in  his  chair,  he  burst  out  into  a  jovial  laugh. 

"  Well,  I've  given  myself  away,  this  time,"  he 
said.  "  I  may  as  well  'fess  up  to  it  that  I  don't 
have  any  idea  who  you  are.  I  thought  I  could 
bluff  it  out  till  Nathalie  came ;  but  I  have  spoiled 
all  that  now." 

She  looked  up  at  him,  half  in  amusement,  half 
in  offended  vanity. 

"  Your  memory  isn't  very  long,  then.  I  am 
Ursula  Thain." 

If  Ursula  had  attempted  to  pass  herself  off  for 
the  late  Queen  Victoria  of  England,  Kingsley 
could  have  been  no  more  surprised.  He  rallied 
swiftly,  however. 

"  Then  I  am  no  end  glad  I  met  you  again,"  he 
said  heartily,  and  with  an  utter  truthfulness 
whose  meaning  Ursula  would  have  been  at  a  loss 
to  fathom. 

"If  that  means  you  had  a  good  time,  I  am 
very  glad,"  she  answered  demurely. 

"  Of  course  I  had  a  good  time.     Didn't  you  ?  " 

"  No,"  she  replied  bluntly.     "  Horrid." 


URSULA'S  FRESHMAN  171 


"  I  am  sorry.     You  didn't  look  it." 

"  Then  my  looks  belied  me,  bad  as  they  were," 
she  answered  a  little  aggressively. 

Kingsley  watched  her  in  amusement.  Her 
beauty  and  her  daintiness,  coupled  with  her  in- 
trepid frankness,  were  interesting  to  him,  and  he 
began  to  wonder  what  she  would  say  next. 
After  a  slight  pause,  she  solved  the  problem 
rather  unsatisfactorily  by  changing  the  subject. 

"Isn't  Nathalie  a  wonderful  girl?  Doesn't 
she  ever  make  you  wish  you  were  just  like 
her?" 

Kingsley's  voice  was  grave  ;  but  his  gray  eyes 
twinkled,  as  he  answered, — 

"  I  never  pine  for  impossible  things,  Miss 
Ursula." 

"  I  do.  I'd  like  to  be  exactly  like  Nathalie ; 
but  it's  no  use.  We  are  as  different  as  a  sweet 
apple  and — a  red  pepper.  I  wonder  if  she  ever 
gets  real  downright,  tearing  angry.  I  don't  be- 
lieve she  does." 

Kingsley  searched  the  recesses  of  his  memory. 

"  I  never  saw  her  do  it." 

"That's  where  she  has  the  advantage.  Most 
people  do.  Even  Jack  loses  his  temper,  once  in 
a  while." 

"Jack?" 

"  Yes,  my  cousin." 


172  URSULA'S  FRESHMAN 

"  Oh,  Petti "  Kingsley  checked  himself 

abruptly  ;  but  he  was  too  late. 

"Yes,  my  cousin,  Jack  Myers,"  Ursula  said 
severely.  "I  am  very  fond  of  him.  Don't  you 
like  him?" 

"Yes.  He  is  a  good  boy,"  Kingsley  an- 
swered, with  the  face  of  one  who  has  been 
forced  to  swallow  a  tablespoonful  of  molasses. 

Ursula  noted  the  tone ;  but  scorned  to  notice  it. 

"I  am  so  glad  to  hear  you  say  so,"  she 
said  sweetly.  "  He  is  a  dear  boy,  even  if  he  is  a 
frightful  tease.  He  keeps  the  house  stirring,  all 
day  long,  and  I  don't  know  how  I  could  bear  to 
be  away  from  home,  if  it  were  not  for  him." 

"  Yes  ? "  Kingsley  longed  to  ask  her  for 
further  particulars  concerning  this  vivacious 
John  Myers.  "You  are  great  chums,  I  sup- 
pose ?  " 

Ursula  laughed.  Her  eyes  were  dancing  now, 
and,  quite  unconsciously,  she  was  looking  her 
very  best.  Again  Kingsley  sought  to  connect 
her  with  the  tear-stained,  magenta  vision  of  the 
previous  Saturday  evening,  and  with  that  other 
vision  the  memory  of  which  had  flashed  into  his 
mind  as  he  beheld  her,  a  vision  of  a  bunchy  girl 
and  a  thin-faced  man  with  lambent  eyes,  a  Phi 
Beta  Kappa  charm  and  a  tin  skillet  partially 
filled  with  dripping  clams. 


URSULAS  FRESHMAN  173 

"  Jack  and  I  do  everything  together,"  Ursula 
was  saying.  "  He  gets  me  into  all  sorts  of 
mischief  now  and  then,  for  I  am  only  a  country 
girl  and  a  Westerner  at  that,  and  I  don't  know 
the  ways  of  the  place,  as  he  does." 

"  Are  you  from  the  West  ?  " 

"  From  Lucretia,  Iowa." 

Kingsley  gave  a  swift  glance  at  her,  covering 
her  from  head  to  heel. 

"You  aren't  like  any  Western  girl  I  ever 
saw." 

She  laughed  again. 

"There  are  all  kinds  there,  just  as  there 
are  here  ;  and  there  are  all  sorts  of  grades  of  the 
West.  Iowa  isn't  Idaho."  Then  she  rose.  "  I 
really  think  I'd  better  not  wait  any  longer,"  she 
said.  "  Please  tell  Nathalie  that  I  had  to  go. 
Perhaps  you  would  be  willing  to  do  my  errand 
for  me.  Jack  and  I  are  planning  to  come  here 
to  play  cards,  some  night  this  week.  Ask  her  to 
send  me  word,  please,  what  night  she  wants  us." 

Kingsley  held  out  his  hand  in  farewell. 

"  It  takes  four  to  play  most  games." 

She  smiled  saucily  up  at  him. 

"  Perhaps  Mr.  Arterburn  won't  be  too  busy." 

"  But  he  will,  I  know.  I'll  tell  you  what, 
Miss  Ursula;  I'll  do  your  errand  on  condition 
that  you  will  let  me  come,  too." 


174  URSULAS  FRESHMAN 


CHAPTER  THIRTEEN 

ON  the  last  night  of  Kingsley  Barrett's  holi- 
days, the  unexpected  happened.  Mrs. 
Gifford  Barrett  invited  to  dine  with  her,  that 
night,  the  two  Arterburns,  Ursula  Thain  and 
John  Myers ;  and,  in  consequence  of  that  invita- 
tion, Mrs.  Myers  grew  at  least  two  inches  in  her 
own  estimation  of  her  own  social  stature. 

"Don't  do  it,  unless  you  want  to,  mater," 
Kingsley  advised,  while  he  put  his  elbows  on  the 
table  and  blinked  at  her  over  his  clenched 
fists. 

"  I  can't  say  that  life  will  be  a  desert  unto  me, 
without  the  Myers  contingent,"  his  mother  re- 
sponded, as  she  poured  out  his  coffee.  "Still, 
I  really  can't  see  how  I  can  help  asking  them." 

Kingsley  stirred  his  coffee  thoughtfully. 

"  Nobody  makes  you,"  he  observed  at  length. 

"Yes,  you  and  Nathalie  do.  Oh,  that  my 
enemies  should  be  of  my  household !  Rex,  you 
are  a  good  boy ;  but  you  have  contrived  to  upset 
all  my  long-cherished  theories." 

"  As  to  what  ?  " 


URSULAS  FRESHMAN  175 

"  An  abiding  horror  of  Mrs.  Myers.  She 
buzzes  me  like  a  piece  of  plush." 

Mr.  Barrett  looked  up  from  his  paper. 

"  What  now,  Babe  ?  "  he  asked. 

"  I  am  about  to  sacrifice  myself  upon  the  altar 
of  maternal  dut/.  Your  son  has  been  playing 
with  that  preposterous  Myers  lad.  He  is  not  a 
boy  ;  he's  a  lad,"  Mrs.  Barrett  added  viciously. 

"In  the  vernacular  of  your  son,  he  is  a  sad 
lad,"  Mr.  Barrett  said,  laughing.  "  I  am  sorry 
that  your  son  has  such  lowly  tastes ;  but  what  of 
it?" 

"  Nothing ;  only  that,  if  your  son  will  accept 
Myers  invitations,  the  Myers  contingent  must  at 
least  have  the  chance  to  decline  a  Barrett  invi- 
tation." 

"  Apparently  neither  one  of  you  is  willing  to 
acknowledge  me,"  Kingsley  observed  plaintively. 

"  Of  course  not,  when  you  choose  such  com- 
panions. I  don't  wish  you  to  be  dissipated  and 
take  to  strong  drinks ;  but  Pettijohn  Myers 
is  nothing,"  Mrs.  Barrett  waved  her  spoon  in  the 
air  ;  "  nothing  but  postum  cereal." 

"  Yes."     Kingsley  spoke  meditatively. 

"  And  I  have  noticed  that  you  generally  have 
had  an  appetite  for  black  coffee,  twice  a  day. 
When  did  you  develop  your  fondness  for  gruel  ?  " 

"  Don't  worry,  mater.     Gruel  is  good  for  the 


176  URSULA'S  FUESHMAN 

nerves.  But  for  a  fact,  now,  Pettijolm  Myers 
has  got  a  good  deal  of  the  Jack  in  him ;  and, 
what  is  more  to  the  purpose,  Pettijack  Myers 
has  a  stunningly  pretty  cousin." 

"  Oh,  I  begin  to  understand  now,"  Mr.  Barrett 
said  thoughtfully. 

"  I  don't,  then,"  Mrs.  Barrett  interposed. 
"According  to  Nathalie,  I  saw  the  girl  once." 

"  Up  at  New  Haven,"  Kingsley  admitted.  "  I 
remember  it ;  but  that  was  before  she  had  been 
introduced  to  a  tailor.  Of  course,  I  haven't  any 
use  for  home-made  girls." 

His  mother  shook  her  head  at  him. 

"  Please  to  remember  that  I  manufactured  the 
gown  I  wore  to  the  opera,  last  night,"  she  re- 
minded him. 

Kingsley  smiled  in  full  approval. 

"  Oh  yes  ;  you  !  "  he  answered,  and  his  mother 
felt  that  life  could  hold  for  her  few  sweeter  com- 
pliments than  the  one  veiled  in  those  three 
words. 

It  had  been  agreed  that  Ursula  and  her  cousin 
should  call  for  the  Arterburns,  on  the  night  of 
the  dinner ;  and,  promptly  at  the  moment,  Nath- 
alie heard  the  bell. 

"  I  am  so  glad  you  are  early,"  she  said,  as  she 
opened  the  door.  "Harry  will  be  ready  in  a 
minute,  and  then  I'm  going  to  suggest  our  walk- 


URSULA'S  FEESHMAN  177 

ing  down  town.  We  have  plenty  of  time,  and 
Hal  has  been  working  until  he  is  tired  out.  The 
walk  will  set  him  up  wonderfully.  Shall  you 
mind  so  very  much  ?  " 

"  Not  a  bit.  It  is  a  glorious  night,  cold  and 
so  windy  that  Jack  and  I  ran  races  all  the  way 
over,  because  it  was  easier  to  run  ahead  of  the 
wind  than  to  hold  back  against  it,"  Ursula  an- 
swered, while  she  walked  into  the  parlor  and 
seated  herself,  blissfully  unconscious  of  the  fact 
that  her  hat  was  much  awry. 

Nathalie  straightened  it  for  her. 

"  You  look  like  a  small  gipsy,"  she  suggested. 
"  Take  off  your  coat  and  let  me  see  your  gown. 
It  appears  to  be  another  new  one." 

"  It  is  new.  Isn't  it  pretty  ? "  Ursula  said 
with  frank  pleasure,  as  she  slid  out  of  the  dark 
coat  that  came  to  her  ankles. 

Nathalie  gave  an  adjusting  pat  or  two  to  the 
dainty  green  gown,  simple  and  girlish,  yet  show- 
ing in  its  every  fold  that  it  was  the  work  of  an 
expert. 

"  It  is  lovely,"  she  said,  with  a  little  accent  of 
regret.  "  I  wonder  how  it  would  feel  to  have 
gowns  like  that." 

"  It  feels  exactly  like  being  a  wax  doll  that 
somebody  dresses  and  undresses,  whenever  she 
feels  like  it,"  Ursula  answered.  "  I  love  pretty 


178  URSULA'S  FRESHMAN 

clothes;  but  I'm  not  sure  I  care  so  much  for 
them,  now  that  all  anybody  has  to  do  about 
them  is  to  pay  the  bill.  Yours  is  as  pretty  as 
mine,  and  it  counts  for  a  great  deal  more."  And 
she  smiled  approvingly  at  Nathalie's  rose-colored 
gown  which  was  bound  to  do  faithful  service  on 
many  an  occasion  yet  to  come. 

But  John  interrupted. 

"  If  that  is  the  way  you  feel  about  it,  Ursula, 
I'll  tell  my  mother  not  to  pay  the  bills  at  all," 
he  suggested  amicably,  quite  unaware  of  the  fact 
that  already  Mrs.  Myers's  dressmaker's  bill  was 
some  months  in  arrears. 

To  Ursula's  supreme  satisfaction,  when  they 
started  for  their  long  walk,  she  found  that  John 
and  Nathalie  had  fallen  into  step  ahead,  leaving 
her  to  follow  with  Harry  Arterburn.  Ursula 
respected  her  uncle,  and  she  liked  John;  but 
Hany  Arterburn  she  had  admitted  to  her  girlish 
holy  of  holies,  where  he  occupied  a  pedestal  at 
the  right  hand  of  the  one  upon  which  she  had 
placed  her  father.  Suddenly  confronted  with 
the  question  why  she  admired  him  so  much,  she 
would  have  been  somewhat  at  a  loss  to  put  her 
reasons  into  words.  He  was  an  earnest,  matter- 
of-fact  sort  of  man,  not  especially  handsome  and 
with  the  simple  manners  of  a  child.  Neverthe- 
less, as  she  met  his  steady,  clear  eyes,  as  she  saw 


URSULAS  FEESHMAN  179 

the  close-shut  lips,  firm,  yet  showing  in  their 
curves  every  passing  mood  of  fun  or  anxiety,  re- 
buke or  tenderness,  Ursula  trusted  him  with  the 
unerring  instinct  of  healthy-minded  girlhood. 
Moreover,  her  loyalty  kept  pace  with  her  admi- 
ration and  her  trust.  In  all  her  New  York  life, 
Harry  Arterburn  was  the  one  person  who  was 
immune  from  Ursula  Thain's  teasing. 

"  Lessons,  to-morrow,"  he  reminded  her  laugh- 
ingly, as  they  turned  their  faces  to  the  southward. 

"  Alas,  yes !  I  wish  somebody  would  decide 
that  I  know  enough  now  for  all  practical  pur- 
poses," she  sighed. 

"  It  depends  upon  the  purposes.  What  are  you 
going  to  do  next,  after  this  year  is  over  ?  " 

"Live  on  the  memory  of  it,"  she  answered 
quaintly. 

"  Have  you  enjoyed  it  so  much  ?  " 

"  Yes,  immensely  ;  then  again,  not  at  all." 

"  Does  that  mean,  according  to  whether  it  is 
holiday  time  or  not  ?  "  he  inquired. 

"  It  depends  upon  whether  I  fight  with  my 
aunt,  or  not,"  she  responded,  with  unexpected 
candor. 

Heretofore,  it  had  been  only  by  way  of  his 
sister  that  Harry  had  become  aware  of  any  fric- 
tion between  Mrs.  Myers  and  her  niece.  Now, 
all  at  once,  he  discovered  that  it  was  not  of  the 


180  URSULAS  FRESHMAN 

nature  of  outspoken  fifteen  to  clothe  family 
skeletons  with  the  padding  of  polite  society. 
Ursula's  statement  left  him  mentally  gasping  for 
breath  and  endeavoring  to  think  what  he  would 
better  say  about  it  all.  He  could  neither  ap- 
prove, nor,  if  she  continued  the  subject,  could  he 
ignore  her  hostile  attitude  towards  her  hostess. 
And  yet,  he  was  a  man  under  thirty,  and  he  had 
known  this  tempestuous  damsel  but  two  short 
months. 

He  temporized. 

"  But  I  suppose  you  do  dislike  to  go  back  to 
work  again,"  he  said  guardedly. 

"  I  don't  like  the  work  itself  as  well  as  I  like 
the  way  I  do  it,"  she  responded  graciously.  "  I 
have  enjoyed  these  holidays,  though.  We  have 
had  a  glorious  time,  the  four  of  us." 

"  And  to-night  ends  it." 

She  gave  a  little  sigh. 

"Yes,  we  go  out  in  a  blaze  of  glory.  Aunt 
Ursula  is  tickled  to  pieces  over  this  affair." 

Under  cover  of  the  darkness,  Harry  smiled  at 
the  lapse  from  New  York  idiom.  Then  he  said 
gravely,-^ 

"  Why  should  she  care  ?  " 

"  Because  she  has  been  fishing  for  this,  ever 
since  I  came,"  Ursula  answered  recklessly. 

Harry  recalled  Nathalie's  suggestion  that  he 


URSULA'S  FRESHMAN  181 

should  talk  to  Ursula  for  her  sins,  and  he  felt 
that  his  time  was  come.  Unconsciously,  how- 
ever, his  heart  warmed  towards  the  pretty  little 
sinner  who  paraded  all  her  vices  so  unreservedly. 
Whatever  Ursula  Thain's  other  iniquities  might 
be,  at  least  there  was  nothing  underhanded  about 
her  walk  or  her  conversation.  Such  as  she  was, 
she  invariably  showed  herself;  and  she  was 
wonderfully  winning  and  lovable,  even  in  her 
naughtiness.  He  hesitated  how  best  to  soften 
his  rebuke. 

Ursula  read  his  hesitation. 

"  Now  there's  something  you  don't  like,"  she 
said  shrewdly.  "  What  is  it  ?  " 

"  What  makes  you  think  so  ?  " 

"  The  way  you  drew  your  breath  in  through 
your  teeth.  I've  learned  it,  from  the  times  when 
I  don't  know  my  history  lessons,"  she  responded. 

Her  companion  made  a  mental  note  of  one 
more  peculiarity  which  he  must  abolish. 

"  Well,  what  is  the  trouble  ?  "  Ursula  queried 
impatiently. 

A  good  deal  to  her  surprise,  he  neither 
laughed,  nor  denied  that  there  was  trouble.  In- 
stead, he  said  gravely, — 

"  Ursula,  I  am  quite  an  old  fellow,  and  perhaps 
I  am  getting  to  be  a  bit  of  a  fogy  in  my 
notions.  Shall  you  be  very  cross  at  me,  if  I  give 


182  URSULAS  FRESHMAN 

you  the  same  kind  of  a  lecture  I  should  give 
Nathalie?" 

Her  step  quickened  a  little;  then  it  slowed 
down  again,  and  she  answered  with  unwonted 
gentleness,— 

"  No.     Go  on." 

"  It  is  none  of  my  affair  really,"  he  said,  with 
an  accent  of  apology  in  his  even  voice ;  "  but,  if 
I  were  in  your  place,  I  don't  believe  I  would 
care  to  talk  about  my  aunt  quite  so  frankly 
to  strangers." 

"But  you  aren't  a  stranger,"  she  interposed, 
and  he  was  surprised  at  the  sharp  note  of  pain  in 
her  voice. 

"  Not  to  you,"  he  answered ;  "  but  I  am  to 
your  aunt.  It  doesn't  seem  quite  fair  to  be  talk- 
ing her  over  with  me." 

"  I  thought  you'd  be  interested."  Her  tone 
was  still  a  little  aggrieved.  "  You've  always 
acted  as  if  you  liked  to  hear  about  my  things.  I 
am  sorry  if  I've  bored  you." 

By  the  glare  of  a  street  light,  he  could  see  that 
her  figure  had  stiffened  with  resentment,  that 
her  chin  had  lifted  itself  and  set  with  rigid  de- 
fiance. He  hastened  to  explain  himself. 

"  It's  not  that  I  am  bored.  I  like  to  hear  all 
about  Lucretia ;  but  it's  different  with  your  aunt. 
You  don't  like  her,  and " 


URSULAS  FRESHMAN  183 

"  I  like  her  sometimes  ;  and  then  again,  some- 
times she  does  make  me  very  cross,"  Ursula 
corrected  him. 

He  ignored  the  interruption. 

"  And  you  are  not  quite  fair  to  her.  Besides, 
haven't  you  ever  heard  that  it  isn't  good  man- 
ners for  one  woman  to  run  down  another,  when 
she  is  talking  to  a  man  ?  " 

She  relented  visibly  at  his  use  of  the  word 
woman. 

"  No ;  I  never  did.  I  don't  see  why,"  she  re- 
plied thoughtfully. 

"  Petty  convention,"  he  suggested. 

But  again  she  interrupted. 

"  Oh,  don't  you  begin  that !  Aunt  Ursula 
does  nothing  but  talk  about  convention  this,  and 
convention  that,  till  you  would  think  she  was  a 
federated-club  Seven  Day  Baptist.  I  never  heard 
anything  about  convention  at  home.  We  just 
tried  to  be  polite  and  mind  our  own  concerns, 
and  let  the  rest  take  care  of  itself." 

Harry  smiled.  Then  he  delivered  his  care- 
fully-aimed shot. 

"  That  is  about  all  that  is  necessary.  But  does 
it  strike  you  that  it  is  quite  polite  to  take  favors 
from  your  aunt,  and  then  say  unpleasant  things 
about  her,  outside  ?  " 

The  shot  told. 


184  URSULAS  FRESHMAN 

"  She  needn't  be  so  cranky,  then,"  Ursula  said 
restively. 

"  But  that  is  a  part  of  her." 

Ursula  turned  on  him  quickly. 

"  You  think  so,  too,  then  ?  "  she  asked. 

He  parried  her  question. 

"  I  am  only  judging  by  what  you  have  told  me. 
Now  see  here,  Ursula,  all  this  is  none  of  my  busi- 
ness. Your  aunt  hires  me  to  cram  Greek  and 
history  and  things  into  your  head,  not  to  teach 
you  manners.  Still,  I  have  gone  so  far  now,  I 
am  going  to  finish  up'the  matter.  At  one  time 
or  another,  you  have  told  me  a  good  deal  about 
yourself,  about  your  old  home,  and  about  your 
new  one,  too.  By  your  own  story,  you  are  hav- 
ing ever  so  many  things  here  that  you  never  even 
heard  of,  when  you  were  at  home  ;  and  it  is  your 
aunt  who  is  giving  them  to  you.  Now,  even  if 
she  is  critical,  even  if  she  does  care  about  some 
things  you  and  I  think  aren't  worth  the  count- 
ing, oughtn't  you  to  put  up  with  it  and  keep 
still,  or  else  say  once  for  all  that  you  won't  take 
any  more  of  her  favors  ?  It  isn't  a  thoroughbred 
dog  that  gobbles  up  the  bone,  and  then  snaps  at 
the  hand  that  held  it  out." 

Her  silence  lasted  for  so  long  he  feared 
that  she  was  seriously  angry  with  him.  Even 
then,  however,  he  could  not  bring  himself 


URSULA'S  FRESHMAN  185 

to  regret  his  plain  words,  once  they  were 
spoken. 

"  And,  from  all  I  have  heard  of  your  father,"  he 
added  at  length ;  "  I  think  he  would  be  surprised 
to  find  his  daughter  anything  but  a  thorough- 
bred." 

"  I  know  that,"  she  said  swiftly,  yet  with  no 
trace  of  anger  in  her  tone.  "  He  has  done  all  he 
can  to  make  me  so ;  and,  if  I'm  not,  it  isn't  his 
fault.  I  didn't  mean  to  be  so  horrid  about  Aunt 
Ursula ;  but  I  just  didn't  think.  You  see,  she 
fusses  at  me  until  I  am  half  wild ;  and,  before  I 
know  it,  I've  tried  to  get  even  with  her.  "When 
I  get  furious  at  her,  I  seem  to  forget  that  she  is 
giving  me  things,  the  whole  time,  and  trying  to 
improve  my  manners  and  my  morals  according 
to  her  own  pattern.  She  is  very  well-meaning, 
Mr.  Arterburn,  and  she  gives  me  more  things 
than  I  know  what  to  do  with.  I  never  thought 
how  greedy  I  seemed,  to  be  snatching  at  all  I 
could  get,  without  any  thanks  to  speak  of.  I 
truly  will  try  to  be  more  decent  about  it,  and  not 
fight  her,  nor  say  mean  things  about  her,  either." 

"  Thank  you,"  he  answered  briefly. 

"For  what?" 

"  For  taking  my  little  lecture  without  getting 
angry  at  it." 

"  I  shouldn't  call  it  such  a  very  little  lecture," 


186  URSULAS  FRESHMAN 

she  said  whimsically.  "  It  was  a  good  large  one ; 
but  I  think  perhaps  I  deserved  it.  Besides,"  her 
voice  grew  wishful  and  altogether  winning ;  "  be- 
sides, I  liked  it,  after  a  fashion.  Except  for  my 
father,  nobody  ever  talked  to  me  like  that,  be- 
fore; and  now  and  then  one  needs  a  little  help." 
And,  turning,  she  suddenly  held  out  her  hand  in 
token  of  perfect  understanding  and  friendship. 


URSULA'S  FRESHMAN  187 


CHAPTER  FOURTEEN 

"  TACKIE,  my  dear  boy,  do  you  realize  that 

*/  my  days  here  are  numbered?"  Ursula 
inquired  pensively,  one  evening  in  early  May. 

"  Meaning ?  "  John  queried. 

"Fifty-seven  and  a  half.  I  am  to  start  for 
Lucretia  on  the  first  of  July." 

John  lowered  his  book  and  stared  at  her. 

"  What  nonsense  are  you  talking  ?  " 

"  No  nonsense  at  all.     I  am  going." 

"  But  you  aren't.  You  were  asked  for  a  year, 
and  your  time  isn't  up  till  the  first  of  October. 
After  that,  you  can  do  as  you  please,  for  I  shall  be 
in  Yale,  and  it  won't  make  any  especial  difference 
to  me  whether  you  are  here,  or  in  Lucretia,  or  in 
Libonia." 

Ursula  laughed. 

"  It  will  to  me,  though." 

"You  don't  count  in  this  matter,"  John  re- 
torted. "  Mother  hasn't  any  idea  of  your  going 
now." 

"But  she  has,  then.  She  and  Uncle  Henry 
were  discussing  it,  last  night,  when  I  went  into 


188  URSULA'S  FRESHMAN 

the  library.  She  is  talking  about  going  home 
with  me,  and  stopping  for  a  few  days." 

"  What  about  me  ?  "  John  asked  rather  wish- 
fully. 

"  You  are  to  go  to  the  farm,  and  she  will  meet 
you  there.  Isn't  it  fun  that  you  and  Nathalie 
are  to  be  neighbors,  all  summer  long  ?  " 

"  I  didn't  know  we  were." 

"  Yes,  her  small  brothers  and  sisters  live  with 
an  old  cousin  in  Northford,  and  she  is  to  spend 
the  summer  with  them.  Mr.  Arterburn  will  be 
there,  part  of  the  time,  too.  Don't  you  believe 
I  shall  be  homesick  for  you  all  ?  " 

"  Come  with  us,  then." 

"  Can't.  I  tell  you  I  am  to  start  for  Lucretia 
on  the  morning  of  the  first  of  July." 

"  Ursula,"  John  looked  at  her  keenly ;  "  I  don't 
think  you  want  to  go  home." 

"  I  don't  know  whether  I  do,  or  not,"  she  an- 
swered honestly.  "I  have  been  very  homesick 
here;  but  I  shall  miss  some  things,  when  I  go 
away." 

"  What  things  ?  "     He  looked  expectant. 

Ursula  smiled  sedately. 

"Oh,  late  breakfasts,  and  tailor  gowns,  and 
the  not  having  to  carry  the  table  scraps  out  to 
the  pig." 

"  And  me  ?  "  he  suggested. 


URSULA'S  FRESHMAN  189 

"  Yes,  a  little."  Then  the  merriment  left  her 
face.  "  Jackie,  it  would  have  been  a  sorry  time 
for  me,  if  you  hadn't  been  in  the  house."  She 
hesitated  a  little.  "  But,  Jack,  it  is  very  hard  to 
balance  it  all  up.  I  have  had  a  fine  time  here ; 
and  you  don't  know  much  about  the  other  side, 
the  rough  and  tumble  of  a  large  family  in  a  little 
house,  and  the  squinting  at  all  sides  of  a  penny, 
before  you  dare  spend  it.  It  may  be  healthy ; 
but  it  isn't  fun.  Still,  father  is  there,  and  mother. 
If  I  could  only  have  them,  next  door,  I  could  be 
happy  here  until  the  end  of  time." 

"  Have  you  ever  seen  Uncle  Steve?" 

"No."  Ursula's  tone  was  rather  indifferent, 
for  this  younger  brother  of  her  father  was  merely 
a  name  to  her. 

"  You  needn't  be  so  sniffy  about  him,  then. 
He  is  a  good  deal  like  your  father,  in  some  ways." 

Ursula  shook  her  head. 

"  Jack,  nobody  is  quite  like  my  father.  He  is 
— he  is  the  only  man  alive  I  would  take  a  scold- 
ing from,  and  not  get  furious  at  him.  That 
is "  She  halted,  as  her  thoughts  flew  back- 
ward to  one  winter  night  when  Harry  Arterburn 
had  rebuked  her  with  a  kindly  justice  which  she 
could  not  resent. 

"  Wait  till  you  see  Uncle  Steve,"  John  advised 
her. 


190  UKSULAS  FRESHMAN 

"  But  I'm  not  likely  to  see  him.  I'm  not  to  be 
in  Northford." 

"  Don't  be  too  sure  of  that.  I  have  an  idea 
that,  when  it  comes  to  the  point,  my  mother 
won't  let  you  go.  She  likes  you  a  good  deal  bet- 
ter than  she  cares  to  admit,  young  woman,  and 
she  isn't  going  to  enjoy  losing  us  both  at  the 
same  time." 

"  That  is  why  she  is  sending  me  off,  three 
months  ahead,"  Ursula  suggested.  "  Then  she'll 
get  over  pining  for  me,  just  in  time  to  begin  work 
on  you.  However,  I  am  not  so  sure  that  she  will 
pine." 

They  lapsed  into  silence,  each  one  busy  with 
his  study  for  the  next  day,  for  John  was  working 
hard  to  be  ready  for  his  finals  in  June,  and  Ursula 
was  doing  her  best  to  convince  Harry  Arterburn 
that  two  years'  seniority  was  not  always  an  ad- 
vantage, where  lessons  were  concerned.  From 
the  start,  she  had  determined  not  to  be  a  drag 
upon  Nathalie,  and  she  had  succeeded  to  the  point 
that  Nathalie  had  never  been  forced  to  work 
harder  than  during  this  winter  of  association  with 
a  girl  many  months  younger  than  herself  and  a 
stranger  to  the  discipline  gained  by  good  schools 
and  much  travel.  Even  Harry  Arterburn,  doubt- 
ful though  he  might  have  been  at  first,  was  forced 
to  admit  that  the  experiment  had  been  altogether 


URSULA'S  FRESHMAN  191 

a  success,  as  much  for  Nathalie  as  for  Ursula. 
Without  Ursula,  Nathalie's  life  would  have  been 
thrown  too  entirely  among  older  people.  Her 
responsibilities  and  her  efficient  meeting  of  them 
would  have  been  prone  to  make  her  lose  her  girl- 
ishness.  Under  these  conditions,  nothing  could 
have  been  more  healthful  for  her  than  her  con- 
stant association  with  a  girl  like  Ursula,  bright, 
energetic  and  invariably  in  the  superlative  degree 
of  comparison,  whatever  was  the  nature  of  her 
mood.  Ursula  roused  Nathalie ;  Nathalie  stead- 
ied Ursula.  They  were  like  the  acid  and  the 
metals  of  an  electric  battery,  totally  unlike,  and 
each  necessary  for  the  full  development  of  a  per- 
fect current. 

Suddenly  John  looked  up  again  from  his  book. 

"  Ursula,  you  are  a  girl  and  ought  to  notice 
things.  What  is  the  matter  with  my  father  ?  " 

"  Why  ?  "  she  asked,  with  apparent  indifference. 

"  He  doesn't  seem  like  himself." 

"  How  do  you  mean  ?  " 

"  He  doesn't  say  anything,  for  one  thing.  He 
acts,  all  the  time,  as  if  something  were  worrying 
him.  " 

"  He  never  talks  much,  }^ou  know." 

"  But  this  is  different.  He  seems  dull,  or  wor- 
ried, or  ill.  Haven't  you  noticed  it  ?  "  he  asked 
impatiently. 


192  URSULAS  FRESHMAN 

"  Yes,  I  have,"  she  confessed  reluctantly.  "  He 
hasn't  been  right,  all  this  spring." 

"  What  is  it,  do  you  suppose  ?  " 

"  I  don't  know.  I  have  wondered  about  it  a 
good  deal ;  but  he  isn't  the  same  man  he  was, 
when  I  came.  I  can't  really  put  my  finger  on 
the  difference ;  but  it  is  there." 

"  Is  it  worry,  or  not  being  well  ?  " 

"  I  can't  tell.  It  may  be  a  little  of  both.  He 
says  he  isn't  sleeping,  and  that  is  enough  to  make 
him  look  badly.  I  wouldn't  worry  about  him, 
Jackie,  for  it  may  be  nothing,  after  all." 

"  But  it  is  something,"  he  persisted  anxiously. 
"  You  have  noticed  it,  too,  and  I  have  been  seeing 
it,  all  the  spring.  It  would  be  awful,  if  my  father 
should  go  to  pieces." 

Ursula  laughed  encouragingly. 

"  People  don't  go  to  pieces,  just  because  they 
aren't  quite  well,  Jackie." 

"  People  in  Wall  Street  do." 

"Not  always.  Most  likely  he  has  what  my 
mother  used  to  call '  spring  fever.'  A  bitter  tonic 
and  some  rest  would  set  him  up  again.  I  sup- 
pose Wall  Street  people  get  tired,  just  the  same 
as  Lucretia  people  do." 

"  Not  in  the  same  way,  though." 

"  Perhaps  not.  Still,  there's  no  use  in  worry- 
ing. Your  mother  isn't  at  all  anxious,  Jack." 


URSULAS  FRESHMAN  193 

"  I  wish  she  would  be  a  little  more  so,"  he  said 
restlessly. 

"  What's  the  use  ?  Men  don't  like  to  be  fussed 
at ;  and,  when  she  thinks  you  aren't  well,  she 
fusses  herself  half  to  death,"  Ursula  said  bluntly. 
"  You  don't  mind  it ;  but  it  would  drive  Uncle 
Henry  wild." 

John  flushed. 

"  Perhaps  I  mind  it  more  than  I  like  to  tell," 
he  answered.  "  Sometimes  it  is  easier  to  put  up 
with  things  than  it  is  to  fight  them." 

Turning  around  in  her  deep  chair,  Ursula 
looked  at  her  cousin  with  an  approving  smile. 

"  Jack,"  she  observed  slowly  ;  "  I  am  gradually 
coming  to  the  conclusion  that  there  is  more  to 
you  than  I  used  to  suppose  there  was." 

"  That  isn't  an  overpowering  compliment,"  he 
retorted.  "It's  double-ended  and  heads  two 
ways.  Still,  I  am  thankful  for  so  much.  But 
about  my  father  ?  " 

"Well?" 

John  put  his  elbows  on  the  table  and  rested 
his  chin  in  his  cupped  palms. 

"  Ursula,  I  can't  help  thinking  that  there  is 
something  a  good  deal  wrong.  My  father  thinks 
so,  too ;  but  I  don't  know  what  it  is.  You  know 
my  mother  has  been  saying,  all  winter  long,  that 
she  wanted  to  go  abroad,  this  summer.  I  sup- 


194  URSULA'S  FRESHMAN 

pose  that  may  have  been  the  reason  she  has 
planned  to  have  you  go  home  in  July,  instead  of 
staying  out  the  year.  Now.  as  a  general  thing, 
whatever  my  mother  wants,  she  gets ;  but  she 
isn't  going  to  get  this.  She  hinted  and  then  she 
teased ;  but,  only  a  week  ago,  I  heard  my  father 
tell  her  flatly  that  she  couldn't  go  to  Europe,  this 
year.  Now  what  does  that  mean? " 

Ursula  stared  thoughtfully  into  the  fire. 

"John,  I  honestly  don't  know,"  she  said,  at 
length.  "It  may  mean  money;  it  may  mean 
that  he  isn't  well  and  wants  to  have  her  with 
him." 

"But  she  is  going  to  the  farm." 

"  Yes,  and  he  is  going,  too." 

"  No ;  he  isn't." 

It  was  Ursula's  turn  to  stare. 

"Why  not?" 

"  He  never  does.     Didn't  you  know  that  ?  " 

"  I  never  asked.  I  took  it  for  granted  that,  if 
she  went,  he  went,  too." 

"He  can't  leave  the  office  for  so  long.  He 
runs  up  for  a  Sunday,  now  and  then." 

"Then  why  doesn't  Aunt  Ursula  stay  in 
town  ?  "  Ursula  asked  sharply. 

"  She  never  could  stand  it  here,  all  summer 
long." 

"  Why  not  ?  " 


URSULAS  FRESHMAN  195 

"  It's  fearfully  hot.  You've  no  idea  how  these 
white  streets  bake  and  throw  back  the  sun." 

Ursula's  mind  moved  swiftly  westward  to  the 
thought  of  the  prairies,  white-hot  under  a  noon- 
day sun,  of  her  father  and  mother  walking  across 
them  side  by  side,  bound  upon  some  parish 
errand. 

"  But  your  father  stands  it." 

"  He  is  used  to  it.     Besides,  he  has  to  be  here." 

Ursula  rose,  turned  about  sharply  and  stood 
facing  her  cousin. 

"  What's  sauce  for  the  goose  is  sauce  for  the 
gander,"  she  said  tersely ;  "  only  this  is  the  other 
way  about." 

"  What  do  you  mean  ?  " 

"  Nothing  much,  only  this  :  when  I  get  a  hus- 
band of  my  own,  if  I  ever  do  get  one,  I'll  stay 
by  him.  You  won't  find  me  sitting  in  the  shade 
in  the  mountains,  all  summer  long,  and  leaving 
him  at  home  to  fry  in  his  office,  while  he  earns 
enough  money  to  pay  my  board  bills.  It  is  hor- 
rid, utterly  horrid ;  and  I  never  would  have 
thought  it  of  Aunt  Ursula."  And  she  stalked 
away  out  of  the  room  and  put  herself  to  bed, 
leaving  John  to  digest  at  his  leisure  her  old- 
fashioned  and  unfashionable  theories. 

She  referred  the  matter  to  Nathalie,  the  next 
day.  Long  before  this,  it  had  become  her  cus- 


196  URSULAS  FRESHMAN 

torn,  to  lay  such  debatable  points  before  one  or 
both  of  the  Arterburns,  and  to  accept  just  so 
much  of  their  judgment  as  coincided  with  her 
own  views.  If  they  disagreed  with  her,  she 
usually  pondered  upon  their  beliefs  and  rejected 
them  ;  but,  without  her  suspecting  it  in  the  least, 
their  more  guarded  judgment  tempered  her  ag- 
gressive point  of  view.  This  rarely  affected  the 
case  at  issue ;  but,  later  on,  it  rendered  her  less 
intolerant.  Moreover,  like  most  philosophers, 
she  winnowed  her  opinions  by  airing  them. 

"  Don't  hurry  home,"  Nathalie  had  said,  when 
the  lessons  were  ended.  "  Mrs.  Barrett  is  com- 
ing to  dinner,  to-night,  and  I  must  create  a  pud- 
ding. Stay  and  talk  to  me,  while  I  do  it." 

"  And  make  you  forget  your  sugar  and  mislay 
your  eggs  ?  "  Ursula  queried.  "  My  mother  al- 
ways sent  us  out  of  the  kitchen,  when  she  was 
doing  company  cooking." 

"  So  should  I,  if  there  were  a  dozen  of  you,  all 
talking  at  once.  I  don't  mind  you,  though," 
Nathalie  said,  as  she  tied  on  a  broad  apron  and 
armed  herself  with  an  egg-beater. 

Ursula  dropped  into  a  chair  beside  the  kitchen 
table. 

"  I  love  to  watch  you ;  your  housework  always 
seems  like  play,"  she  observed  thoughtfully. 

Nathalie  took  her  up  quickly. 


URSULA'S  FRESHMAN  197 

"  So  is  all  work,  if  you  like  it  and  are  strong 
enough." 

"  I  never  used  to  like  housework,"  Ursula  an- 
swered. "Till  I  came  here,  it  seemed  horrid 
drudgery  ;  but  now  once  in  a  while  I  wish  that  I 
dared  go  into  the  kitchen  at  Aunt  Ursula's.  Her 
housekeeping  goes  of  itself,  and  now  and  then  I 
believe  I  should  like  to  see  the  machinery." 

"  Well,  watch  it  now,"  Nathalie  advised  her, 
while  she  clattered  a  spoon.  "  My  housekeeping 
is  nearly  all  machinery ;  but  I  don't  mind  it,  as 
long  as  I  am  chief  engineer." 

"  Let  me  help."  Ursula  possessed  herself  of  a 
bowl  and  the  egg-beater.  "  Nathalie,"  she  said 
abruptly,  after  an  interval  of  toil ;  "  what  do  you 
think  of  wives  going  off  to  keep  cool,  and  leav- 
ing their  husbands  at  home  to  roast  ?  " 

"  Is  it  a  conundrum  with  a  catch  in  it  ? " 
Nathalie  asked.  "  I  never  guess  those  things." 

"  No ;  there's  no  conundrum  about  it ;  it  is 
just  fact." 

"  Then  I  think  they  all  would  better  buy  some 
palm-leaf  fans,  and  stick  it  out  together." 

Ursula  frowned. 

"  I  wasn't  joking." 

"Neither  was  I." 

"  Then  what  do  you  really  think  ?  " 

"  Just  what  I  said." 


198  URSULA'S  FRESHMAN 

"  Did  you  suppose  nice  people  did  it  ?  " 

"That  depends  on  what  you  mean  by  nice" 

"  People  like  Aunt  Ursula,  then." 

"She  is  just  the  kind.  Your  mother  doesn't 
do  it,  and  my  mother  didn't ;  but  most  of  the 
rich  women  here  do." 

"  Does  Mrs.  Barrett  ?  " 

"No;  but  she  doesn't  have  rich  ways." 

Ursula  looked  up  in  surprise. 

"  Is  she — stingy  ?  "  she  asked. 

Nathalie  laughed  until  she  dropped  her  spoon. 

"  No.  When  Mrs.  Barrett  turns  stingy,  the 
moon  will  be  green  cheese,  and  the  stars  little 
round  Edams.  She  has  everything  in  the  world 
that  she  wants,  and  she  gives  away  more  than 
she  uses  for  herself.  She  makes  her  own  gowns 
because  she  likes  to  do  it,  and  then  she  gives  her 
dressmaker-money  to  run  a  tiny  little  day  nurs- 
ery. That's  the  way  she  does  things.  But  she 
hasn't  any  of  the  showy  ways  of  very  rich  peo- 
ple. She  and  Mr.  Barrett  trot  around  together 
as  if  they  had  eighty  dollars,  not  eighty  thou- 
sand." 

"  I  wish  Aunt  Ursula  did." 

Nathalie  raised  her  yellow  brows. 

"  Perhaps  your  uncle  doesn't  care  to  have  her." 

"  He  does,  then.  I  know  it,  because  he  likes 
me  to  meet  him,  when  he  comes  home  at  night. 


URSULAS  FRESHMAN  199 

Jack  and  I  drop  in  at  the  office,  once  or  twice  a 
month,  too,  and  he  always  is  glad  to  see  us.  If 
he  isn't  too  busy,  he  shows  us  things,  the  ticker 
and  all  that.  Once  we  tried  to  get  Aunt  Ursula 
to  go  with  us ;  but  she  was  too  tired."  Ursula 
pounded  away  at  her  eggs  vigorously  for  another 
minute  or  two.  Then  she  laughed.  "We  had 
such  fun,  one  day.  Aunt  Ursula  was  going  to  a 
luncheon  and,  in  the  hall,  that  morning,  Uncle 
Henry  told  Jack  to  bring  me  down  to  the  office 
at  one.  We  went  down,  and  he  took  us  out  to 
lunch  at  the  queerest  French  restaurant  away 
down  town.  You  never  would  have  known 
Uncle  Henry,  that  noon.  He  was  just  like  a 
boy.  It  was  one  of  the  best  times  I  have  had 
since  I  came  to  New  York." 

Nathalie's  face  clouded  a  little.  Only  that 
morning,  she  and  Harry  had  sat  long  over  their 
simple  breakfast,  discussing  certain  new  rumors 
which  had  come  to  Harry's  ears  concerning  the 
affairs  of  Myers  and  Heath.  The  spring  had 
been  a  season  of  unsteadiness  in  the  Wall  Street 
world,  and  already  one  or  two  failures  had  re- 
sulted. Until  lately,  Mr.  Myers  had  had  the 
reputation  of  being  a  conservative  business  man ; 
yet  his  scale  of  domestic  living  had  increased 
with  scant  regard  for  possible  bad  times.  Care- 
ful observers  were  already  taking  into  account 


200  URSULA'S  FRESHMAN 

the  recent  sprinkling  of  gray  in  his  dark  brown 
hair,  the  tight  shutting  of  his  jaw  and  the  two 
perpendicular  lines  between  his  eyebrows.  It 
affected  their  judgment  not  one  whit  that  Mrs. 
Myers  was  manifestly  as  care-free  as  ever. 

Nathalie  started  to  speak  ;  then  she  hesitated. 
She  knew  that  she  had  no  right  to  criticize 
Ursula's  aunt,  least  of  all  to  Ursula's  aunt's  crit- 
ical niece. 

"What  do  you  honestly  think  about  it?" 
Ursula  demanded  again. 

Nathalie  added  the  finishing  touches  to  her 
pudding,  and  slid  the  pudding  into  the  oven. 
Then  she  turned  around. 

"I  truthfully  don't  know  what  to  say,  nor 
how  to  say  it,  Ursula.  I'm  not  married,  and  I'm 
not  a  very  rich  woman  with  a  great  many  en- 
gagements to  keep.  They  say  society  women 
work  a  good  deal  harder  than  business  men.  I'm 
not  either  one,  so  I  can't  judge.  But  then, 
neither  are  you.  Perhaps  that  is  just  where  your 
chance  lies.  If  your  uncle  is  lonely  and  your 
aunt  is  busy,  why  can't  you  and  Jack  make 
things  jolly  for  him,  and  so  help  along  both  sides 
of  it?" 

"  Yes ;  but  what  about  the  leaving  him  alone, 
this  summer  ?  " 

"  I'm  not  a  society  woman,  and  I  can't  tell 


URSULA'S  FRESHMAN  201 

what  they  ought  to  do.  I  generally  mean  to 
stick  to  Hal." 

"  And  next  year,  when  I'm  gone,  and  Jack  is 
in  Yale  ?  "  Ursula  persisted. 

Nathalie  opened  the  oven  door,  and  peered  in 
at  her  pudding. 

" '  Sufficient  unto  the  day,' '  she  quoted 
gravely.  "  You  have  almost  two  months,  before 
you  go  home.  If  I  were  in  your  place,  I  would 
see  what  I  could  do  in  that  time,  and  let  next 
fall  take  care  of  itself." 

But  not  even  Nathalie  could  foresee  the  way  in 
which  the  coming  autumn  would  adjust  the 
course  of  events  to  suit  its  own  convenience. 


202  URSULA'S  FRESHMAN 


CHAPTER  FIFTEEN 

A  WHISTLE,  asthmatic,  raucous,  long-drawn, 
-Z~V  broke  in  upon  the  slumbers  of  Mrs.  Myers. 
Drowsily  she  opened  her  eyes  and  looked  about 
her  with  the  vague  wonder  that  always  accom- 
panies an  awakening  in  strange  surroundings. 
Little  by  little  her  glance  gathered  focus  and 
took  a  sharp  survey  of  her  quarters.  Then  she 
shuddered,  buried  her  face  in  the  whitey-gray 
shadow  of  the  sheet  and  lay  still.  By  degrees, 
however,  curiosity  reasserted  itself,  and  she 
pulled  down  the  sheet  to  look  about  her  again. 

The  room  was  small,  and  the  broken-backed 
ceiling  slanted  down  at  such  an  angle  as  to  im- 
peril the  brains  of  any  one  who  sat  up  abruptly 
at  the  back  side  of  the  bed.  The  bedstead  itself 
was  of  some  nameless  species  of  brown  wood, 
and  it  consisted  of  an  infinite  number  of  rods 
and  bars  differing  in  size,  but  all  fluted  with  the 
same  exasperating  regularity  which  adorns  a 
home-made  wedding  cake.  The  rest  of  the  fur- 
niture was  painted  in  pale  greenish  blue,  sten- 
ciled with  bunches  of  deep  pink  roses.  Red 


URSULAS  FRESHMAN  203 

ribbons  tied  back  the  muslin  curtains,  and  the 
wall  was  covered  with  a  brownish  trellis  support- 
ing a  browner  vine  which  bore,  by  some  botan- 
ical freak,  the  leaves  and  blossoms  of  a  gigantic 
breed  of  English  violets.  The  bureau  was  lit- 
tered with  silver-backed  brushes  and  silver-topped 
bottles,  and  a  heap  of  lace-trimmed  ruffles  lay 
across  a  chair  by  the  bedside. 

Mrs.  Myers's  glance  roamed  hither  and  thither. 
Then  she  yawned  wearily,  looked  at  her  watch 
and  prodded  the  pillow  in  the  vain  hope  of  sub- 
duing a  few  of  its  more  aggressive  promontories. 
The  whistle  ceased,  apparently  for  want  of 
breath,  for  it  died  away  with  a  whispered  gur- 
gle ;  but  it  was  useless  for  Mrs.  Myers  to  try  to 
go  to  sleep  again.  The  rooms  on  two  sides  of 
her  were  already  humming  with  childish  voices, 
and,  from  below,  the  clatter  of  plates  and  the 
beat  of  the  chopping-knife  within  kept  disjointed 
time  with  the  beat  of  the  hatchet  in  the  wood- 
shed outside.  With  one  last,  protesting  yawn, 
Mrs.  Myers  slid  out  of  bed  and  went  to  the 
windows  to  look  out. 

It  had  been  too  dark,  when  Mrs.  Myers  had 
reached  Lucretia,  the  night  before,  for  her  to  dis- 
cover that  the  story-and-a-half  parsonage  stood 
close  to  the  narrow  street  and  next  to  the  church 
which,  painted  the  same  uncompromising  shade 


204  URSULAS  FRESHMAN 

of  yellow  as  the  house,  was  constructed  on  the 
architectural  lines  of  an  oil  can  mounted  on  the 
end  of  a  shoe-box.  There  was  no  especial  reason 
that  the  road  should  have  been  so  narrow.  Op- 
posite the  church  was  the  one  store  which 
Lucretia  supported  ;  otherwise  there  was  noth- 
ing beyond  the  farther  sidewalk  but  a  stretch  of 
open  prairie  which  apparently  extended,  an  un- 
inhabited plain,  to  the  uttermost  confines  of  the 
next  county  but  one. 

Mrs.  Myers  stared  out  across  the  dusty,  de- 
serted street,  over  the  treeless  prairie,  already 
scorching  under  the  fierce  July  sun,  then  down 
into  the  little  front  yard  where  innumerable 
Thains  of  assorted  sizes  were  playing  some 
modern  variant  of  the  old-time  hopscotch.  As 
she  watched  the  leisurely  progress  of  the  game, 
the  smile  on  her  lips  tempered  the  disgust  in  her 
eyes.  That  chubby,  dark-eyed  youngster  in  the 
baggy  trousers  was  wonderfully  like  his  father  at 
the  same  age  ;  and  the  sister  a  size  larger  than 
himself  reminded  her  of  her  own  girlhood  at  the 
pinafore  and  pigtail  stage  of  existence.  Then 
she  shivered  again,  as  she  tried  to  fancy  the  hor- 
ror of  living  in  such  a  wilderness. 

Mrs.  Thain  was  putting  the  breakfast  on  the 
table,  as  her  sister-in-law  entered  the  room,  half 
an  hour  later.  Mrs.  Thain  was  dressed  in  a  gray 


URSULA'S  FRESHMAN  205 

calico  wrapper,  spotless,  but  of  the  epoch  which 
wore  crinoline  in  the  tops  of  its  sleeves.  Mrs. 
Myers  had  put  on  a  crisp  white  lawn  which  had 
gone  straight  from  her  dressmaker  to  her  trunk. 
The  clothes  were  no  more  unlike,  however,  than 
were  the  women  who  wore  them. 

"  I  hope  you  slept  well,"  Mrs.  Thain  said  hos- 
pitably. 

Mrs.  Myers  thought  of  the  pillow,  and  com- 
mended her  soul  to  the  mercy  of  the  recording 
angel. 

"  Very,"  she  answered  politely. 

"  I  am  glad  of  that.  I  was  afraid  the  children 
would  disturb  you.  They  Avere  up  early,  for 
they  couldn't  wait  to  see  Ursula.  They  have 
missed  her  more  than  I  thought  they  would." 

"I  don't  wonder,"  Mrs.  Myers  said  heartily. 

Mrs.  Thain  unbent. 

"  Ursula  is  a  good  girl,"  she  responded.  "  She 
has  always  been  a  comfort  to  us,  and  her  letters 
have  done  us  good,  all  the  year.  She  has  been 
happy  with  you." 

Mrs.  Myers  laid  her  white,  beringed  hand  on 
top  of  the  hard  red  fingers  that  held  the  coffee-pot. 

"I  am  glad  to  hear  you  say  so.  She  has 
brightened  our  home,  and  been  a  good  compan- 
ion for  John.  Next  year,  I  shall  miss  her  as 
much  as  you  have  done,  this  year." 


206  URSULA'S  FRESHMAN 

Gently,  but  steadily  Mrs.  Thain  withdrew  her 
hand. 

"  I  guess  not.     You  aren't  her  own  mother." 

"I  feel  almost  as  if  I  were." 

"But  it  isn't  the  real  thing.  It's  one's  own 
child  that  counts  for  the  most.  Ursula  is  a  good 
girl,  even  if  she  is  quick-tempered." 

"I  hope  you  will  find  her  improved,"  Mrs. 
Myers  said,  with  a  little  dignity. 

"  It's  too  soon  to  tell.  She  is  prettier,  and  she 
wears  better  clothes ;  but  she  looks  to  me  just 
about  the  same  Ursula  that  went  away.  Still,  I 
don't  believe  you  have  hurt  her  any,  and,  at  her 
age,  that's  about  the  same  thing  as  saying  you've 
helped  her.  Girls  don't  stand  still,  as  a  rule. 
It's  up  or  down  with  them,  and  it  isn't  always 
easy  to  be  sure  it's  up." 

It  must  be  confessed  that  Mrs.  Thain  had 
awaited  with  no  little  anxiety  the  coming  of  her 
daughter.  Ursula's  letters  had  suggested  no 
change  in  the  girl's  love  for  her  home.  Never- 
theless, Mrs.  Thain  was  well  aware  that  there 
was  some  risk  in  the  experiment  of  moving  a 
young  girl  into  luxurious  surroundings  for  a 
year,  and  then  bringing  her  back  to  take  up  her 
simpler  life  anew.  After  the  glare  and  glamour 
of  the  Myers  home,  it  was  an  open  question 
whether  or  not  the  Lucretia  household  would 


URSULA'S  FRESHMAN  207 

seem  undesirably  mean  and  shabby  in  compari- 
son. Mrs.  Thain,  as  she  paced  the  platform  of 
the  station  at  her  husband's  side,  felt  her  heart 
beat  with  a  painful  swiftness,  Avhile  she  waited 
for  the  train  to  whistle  at  the  crossing,  two  miles 
down  the  road. 

She  was  still  too  intent  upon  scanning  the 
windows  of  the  day  coaches,  to  pay  any  heed  to 
the  sleepers  at  the  rear  of  the  train,  and  she 
missed  the  silver-born  servility  of  the  porter  who 
was  helping  two  women  to  step  down  from  the 
car.  The  next  minute,  she  heard  the  well-re- 
membered voice,— 

"  Oh,  father !  Father  dear  ! "  And  the  voice 
broke  into  a  sob  of  sheer  happiness,  as  Mr. 
Thain's  arms  met  around  his  daughter,  quite  re- 
gardless of  the  probable  price  of  the  simple 
panama  hat  which,  between  them,  they  were 
crushing  so  recklessly. 

Then,  as  Mrs.  Thain  submitted  to  the  same 
tempestuous  embrace,  she  dismissed  at  least  a 
fraction  of  her  anxiety.  The  one  winter  had  not 
sufficed  to  alienate  Ursula  entirely  from  her  old 
home.  However,  while  she  was  getting  break- 
fast, the  next  morning,  Mrs.  Thain's  doubts  came 
back  upon  her ;  but  they  were  promptly  removed 
again.  Ten  minutes  after  her  mother  had  en- 
tered the  kitchen,  Ursula,  fresh  and  dainty  in  a 


208  URSULA'S  FRESHMAN 

pink  cotton  gown,  came  running  down  the 
stairs. 

"  Oh,  it  does  seem  so  good  to  be  at  home,"  she 
said  blithely.  "  Now  what  shall  I  do  first  ?  " 

Her  mother  smiled  grimly. 

"Well,  I  never  supposed  you'd  be  down  so 
early,  the  first  morning  you  were  at  home,"  she 
said,  by  way  of  salutation. 

"  The  very  time  I  don't  want  to  lie  abed.  I'm 
going  to  help  you  get  breakfast.  There  now, 
look  glad  to  see  me,  for  I  know  you  are  so  glad 
you  want  to  stand  on  your  head  in  a  corner." 
She  caught  her  mother  by  the  chin  and  looked 
straight  into  her  eyes.  "Aren't  you  glad, 
mother  ?  "  she  added  gravely. 

And  Mrs.  Thain  made  answer  just  as  gravely, — 

"  The  Lord  knows  I  am,  Ursula." 

For  the  next  week,  Mrs.  Thain  watched  her 
daughter  with  anxiety,  Mr.  Thain  with  open 
idolatry.  Then,  one  night,  they  sat  and  talked 
her  over  together,  and  they  both  agreed  that 
Ursula  had  come  back  to  them,  quite  unspoiled. 
Moreover,  they  resolved  that  no  power  on  earth 
should  make  them  give  her  up  again,  a  resolution 
which  was  no  sooner  made  than  it  was  broken. 

It  had  been  agreed  that  Mrs.  Myers  was  to 
stay  with  them  for  ten  days ;  and  for  ten  days, 
accordingly,  the  Thain  family  feasted  and  held 


URSULAS  FRESHMAN  209 

holiday.  The  guest,  when  she  chose,  could  show 
infinite  tact  in  adjusting  herself  to  new  surround- 
ings, and  just  now  she  did  choose.  Not  even 
Mrs.  Barrett  could  have  criticized  the  easy,  off- 
hand way  in  which  she  entered  into  the  simple 
life  of  the  parsonage,  petting  and  playing  with 
the  children  and  talking  with  Mrs.  Thain  of  all 
manner  of  household  economies,  the  very  names 
of  whose  details  came  back  to  her  but  slowly 
from  out  the  long-forgotten  past.  In  a  sense, 
she  enjoyed  it  all,  as  one  enjoys  exploring  a  new 
country.  Nevertheless,  it  palled  upon  her  in 
time,  and  she  thought  longingly  of  New  York 
and  of  Blowmedowne  Farm  where  her  son  was 
awaiting  her. 

But  although  the  thrifty  wife  and  the  healthy, 
roistering  children  now  and  then  ceased  to  in- 
terest her,  never  for  one  moment  was  she  bored 
or  unhappy  in  the  society  of  her  brother.  For 
the  time  being,  they  both  had  forgotten  the 
years  and  the  circumstances  which  had  caused 
them  to  drift  apart,  and  they  had  dropped  back 
into  the  old,  old  intimacy  of  their  younger  days. 
Dismissing  all  thought  of  criticism,  each  had 
looked  only  for  good  in  the  other,  and  each  had 
found  only  what  he  sought.  Yet,  in  spite  of  his 
narrower  life  and  opportunity,  the  brother  was 
the  dominating  spirit ;  and,  in  his  presence,  his 


210  URSULA'S  FRESHMAN 

sister  lost  much  of  her  worldliness,  and  did  her 
best  to  conform  to  his  higher  ideal  of  all  that  a 
woman  could  become. 

On  the  last  morning  of  her  visit,  she  knocked 
at  his  study  door. 

"  Come,"  he  bade  her. 

She  sat  down  beside  him  at  the  table,  an  open 
letter  in  her  hand. 

"Are  you  too  busy  to  talk,  Irving?"  she 
asked. 

Still  leaning  on  his  elbow,  he  turned  to  face 
her. 

"  It  is  almost  our  last  chance,  Ursula,"  he  said, 
with  a  smile.  "  I  couldn't  be  too  busy  to  make 
the  most  of  it." 

As  she  met  his  eyes,  she  forgot  her  errand. 

"  Irving,  it  has  been  very  good  for  me  to  have 
been  here." 

"  I  am  glad.     We  all  have  enjoyed  it." 

"  So  have  I.  But  I  meant  something  more 
than  just  the  enjoyment  of  it.  It  has  taken  me 
backwards  to  the  old  days  at  home.  It  has  made 
me  feel  younger,  more  human." 

"  Did  you  need  that  ?  "  he  asked,  smiling  again. 

She  answered  him  unsmilingly. 

"  Yes,  more  than  you  know.  Perhaps  you  do 
know,  though.  You  must  have  felt  it,  when  you 
were  in  New  York,  that  I  wasn't  the  same 


URSULA'S  FRESHMAN  211 

Ursula.  Irving,  I  love  my  life ;  I  love  its  coin- 
forts  and  its  ways.  It  keeps  ine  busy  and  con- 
tented and  interested ;  but  it  does  make  me  a  lit- 
tle hard.  Once  in  a  while,  it  seems  to  me  that  I 
am  only  a  cog  in  a  great  social  machine,  that  I 
am  losing  something  for  the  sake  of  being  a  cog, 
and  that,  after  all,  the  machine  would  go  on  just 
as  well  without  mo.  And  yet,  I  can't  seem  to 
make  up  my  mind  to  get  out  of  it  and  let  it  go 
on  without  me."  She  frowned  intently  at  the 
row  of  little  pleats  she  was  laying  in  the  dingy 
table  cover. 

"  I  think  I  understand  how  it  might  be,"  her 
brother  said  slowly.  "  Still,  you  have  your  hus- 
band and  John." 

"  Yes,  in  a  way.  But  Henry  is  another  cog, 
only  his  machine  is  financial,  not  social.  We  turn 
around  side  by  side ;  there's  no  friction,  because 
we  never  really  touch  each  other.  I  admire  him 
and  love  him ;  but  I  can't  get  at  him,  as  I  used 
to  do.  Sometimes  I  am  half  afraid  I  bore  him  ; 
and  yet  he  loves  me  as  he  loves  his  own  life,  and 
he  knows  I  love  him.  Irving,  I  actually  didn't 
realize  how  apart  we  have  grown,  until  I  came 
here  and  found  you  and  Alice  grinding  along  to- 
gether and  sharing  everything  from  your  income 
to  your  worries.  I  love  my  home  just  as  it  is ; 
but  I  truly  believe  I  would  be  willing  to  live  in  a 


212  URSULAS  FRESHMAN 

three-room  tenement,  if  Henry  would  let  me  lay 
out  his  clean  cuffs  for  him  and  read  him  my  gro- 
cery accounts.  We  care  for  each  other  as  we  al- 
ways did ;  but  the  romance  is  nearly  all  gone  out 
of  us." 

"  Whose  fault  is  it,  Ursula  ?  " 

She  looked  up  sharply. 

"Nobody's.  At  least,  neither  of  us.  It  is 
the  fault  of  modern  life,  when  servants  and 
electricity  take  the  place  of  all  the  good  old 
home  ways." 

He  bent  forward  and  laid  his  hand  on  hers. 

"  My  dear  old  girl,  I  live  in  the  wilderness ; 
but  I  think  I  understand.  But  there  is  John." 

Her  face  changed. 

"  Yes,  there's  John.  For  years,  he  has  been 
the  one  softening  spot  in  my  life.  I  have  held 
on  to  him  and  made  a  baby  of  him,  until  I  almost 
succeeded  in  spoiling  him  entirely.  I  knew  that 
he  was  growing  priggy ;  but  I  could  not  bear  to 
give  him  up  and  let  him  grow  away  from  me,  for 
fear  that  spot  would  harden,  too,  and  shut  me  up 
in  myself  all  over.  Ursula  helped  me  there.  She 
was  so  healthy  and  energetic  that  she  undid  some 
of  the  harm  I  was  doing ;  and  John  is  turning 
into  a  normal  boy  without  losing  any  of  his  finer 
side.  He  grows  more  manly ;  but  he  is  just  as 
loving  as  ever." 


URSULAS  FRESHMAN  213 

"  But,  as  Ursula  says,  the  Pettijohn  is  turning 
into  Pettijack,"  he  suggested. 

"  Yes.  I  wish  you  could  see  him  now.  I  think 
you  would  like  him." 

"  I  liked  him  before,"  her  brother  interrupted. 
"  He  was  a  quiet  fellow ;  but  now  and  then  he 
showed  there  was  more  to  him  than  appeared 
on  the  surface." 

"  I  am  glad  you  saw  it."  Then  her  face  grew 
sad.  "  But,  Irving,  I  am  worried  about  Henry." 

"  What  about  him  ?  " 

"  He  isn't  well,  and  he  is  worrying  about  some- 
thing, his  business  probably.  I  wish  I  dared 
talk  to  him  about  it." 

"Why  don't  you?" 

She  sighed  wearily. 

"  It  is  too  long  since  I  have  done  such  a  thing 
for  me  to  begin  again  now." 

"  Try  it,"  he  advised  her. 

"I  am  afraid  of  saying  the  wrong  thing,  of 
making  him  think  I  am  meddling,  or  that  I  dis- 
trust him.  Until  I  came  out  here,  it  never  oc- 
curred to  me,  even,  that  I  could  speak  to  him 
about  it.  Since  I  came,  I  have  tried  to  think  how 
to  say  it ;  but  it  is  of  no  use." 

Mr.  Thain  raised  his  eyes  until  they  rested 
straight  on  the  eyes  of  his  sister. 

"  I  think  it  is  always  of  use,"  he  said  quietly. 


214  URSULA'S  FRESHMAN 

"  That's  what  the  marriage  service  meant,  when 
you  assented  to  it." 

She  bit  her  lip  for  a  moment.  "When  it  was 
quite  steady  again,  she  answered  him. 

"I  will  try,  Irving.  Perhaps  the  fault  has 
been  partly  of  my  own  making." 

The  silence  between  them  lasted  for  a  long 
time ;  but  it  was  a  silence  which  went  far  to  seal 
their  renewed  intimacy.  At  length,  Mrs.  Myers 
brushed  her  fingers  across  her  eyes  and  turned  to 
the  letter. 

"  You  have  helped  me  in  words,  Irving,"  she 
said.  "  Now  will  you  help  me  in  deeds  ?  " 

"  Of  course,"  he  answered  heartily. 

"  Don't  pledge  yourself  too  soon,"  she  warned 
him ;  "  for  I  am  going  to  ask  for  one  of  your 
dearest  possessions." 

His  face  fell,  for  he  suspected  her  mean- 
ing. 

"  What  is  it  ?  "  he  asked  uneasily. 

"May  I  take  Ursula  back  with  me  for  just  one 
more  year  ?  " 

"  Oh,  don't  ask  me  ! "  he  burst  out. 

"I  know  I  am  selfish,  Irving;  but  we  want 
her  so  much.  I  felt  as  if  I  couldn't  give  her  up. 
John  will  go  into  Yale  in  the  fall,  and  our  home 
will  be  so  lonely,  with  no  young  life  in  it.  To- 
day, I  have  a  letter  from  Henry,  begging  me  to 


URSULAS  FRESHMAN  215 

bring  the  child  back  with  me.  Kead  it,  and  see 
for  yourself." 

Mr.  Thain  read  the  letter  slowly,  read  be- 
tween the  lines  the  insistent  note  of  the  busy 
man,  hungry  for  affection,  who  had  come  to 
depend  upon  the  demonstrative  love  of  his 
tempestuous  young  niece.  It  took  a  scant  five 
minutes  to  read ;  but  the  time  was  long  enough 
for  Mr.  Thain  to  fight  a  winning  battle  against 
himself.  Then  he  gave  back  the  letter. 

"  If  her  mother  is  willing,"  he  said  slowly ; 
"  I  am  ready  to  give  my  consent." 

But  there  was  an  unwonted  flush  about  his 
thin  temples  and,  after  Mrs.  Myers  had  left 
the  room,  he  paced  the  floor  for  a  long  half -hour. 


216  URSULAS  FRESHMAN 


CHAPTER  SIXTEEN 

"  '  Jolly  good  song ! 
Jotty  well  sung .' ' 

GO  it  again,  Fizzums." 
But  Fizzums  protested. 

"  Mr.  Wex  Barrett,  you  mustn't  jounce  me  up 
and  down  so  hard.  It  shakes  my  feet  all  up 
into  my  mouf,  and  makes  me  uncomfytable." 

"  Then  sing  it  again,"  Kingsley  urged. 

"  I  sha'n't  not,"  Fizzums  answered,  in  uncon- 
scious imitation  of  the  vernacular  of  Mr.  Henry 
James.  "  It  is  only  a  Sunday  song,  and  it  isn't 
Sunday  now." 

" Then  what  made  you  sing  it? " 

"To  see  if  I  could  merember  it.  Cousin 
Vedowa  told  me  not  to  forget  it." 

"  The  way  you  forgot  me  ? "  Kingsley  sug- 
gested unkindly,  for,  on  his  arrival,  the  day 
before,  he  had  been  chagrined  to  have  Fizzums 
receive  him  as  a  total  stranger. 

But  Fizzums  took  it  upon  himself  to  explain. 

"  I  didn't  even  merember  Nathalie,  and  she's 
my  sister,  so  how  could  I  merember  you  ?  It 


URSULA'S  FRESHMAN  217 

was  two  years  ago,  and  you  were  all  speckly  on 
your  cheeks  then.  I  merembered  the  speckles, 
and  so  I  forgot  'twas  you,  when  you  didn't  have 
'em  any  more." 

"Oh,  thanks  awfully.  You  mean  I  have 
grown  so  good-looking  you  didn't  recognize  me. 
"Well,  where  are  you  going  with  that  basket 
of  apples  ?  " 

"  Down  to  Mrs.  Myers's  house." 

"  Does  Mrs.  Myers  like  apples  ?  " 

"  No ;  but  her  cow  does,"  Fizzums  answered 
unexpectedly. 

"  And  she  asked  you  to  bring  her  some  ?  " 

"  Cows  can't  talk  any." 

Kingsley  looked  abashed  at  the  slur  upon  his 
rhetoric. 

"  I  meant  Mrs.  Myers." 

"  And  I  meant  the  cow,"  Fizzums  replied, 
with  infinite  dignity. 

"  I  see.     And  so  you  feed  her  ?  " 

"Yes.  She's  all  tied  up  in  the  barn,  and 
she  gets  lonesome  for  the  other  cows,  so  I  fought 
I  would  take  her  a  basket  of  apples." 

Kingsley  glanced  down  at  the  knotty,  gnarly 
windfalls. 

"  "Well,  look  out  you  don't  make  her  sick." 

"I  couldn't.  She's  sick  now,"  Fizzums  re- 
sponded. 


218  URSULAS  FRESHMAN 

"  Then  I'd  advise  you  to  let  her  alone." 

Fizzums  put  down  the  heavy  basket  and  stood 
rubbing  his  chubby  arms,  while  he  proceeded  to 
argue  the  question. 

"If  you  was  a  cow,  Mr.  Wex  Barrett,  and 
couldn't  go  outdoors  'cause  you  weren't  well  and 
mustn't  get  your  feet  wet,  wouldn't  you  be  glad 
if  somebody  bwought  you  some  nice  fresh  apple- 
sauce in  a  bowl  with  a  napkin  over  it  ?  Well, 
vat's  what  I'm  doing." 

Kingsley  shook  his  head  in  despair  of  compre- 
hending the  situation. 

"  You  don't  look  it.  But  come  ahead,  young- 
ster." 

"I  ain't  youngster,  and  where  to?"  Fizzums 
inquired  elliptically. 

"  To  ask  Mrs.  Myers  if  you  can  feed  her  cow 
some  hot  apple  dumplings." 

Fizzums  pursed  up  his  lips  thoughtfully. 

"  Are  you  going,  too  ?  " 

"  Yes." 

"What  for?" 

"  To  see  the  people." 

"  Do  you  know  Mrs.  Myers  ?  " 

"  Of  course  I  do.     Are  you  coming  ?  " 

"  Yes."  Fizzums  spoke  with  sudden  anima- 
tion. "You  can  carry  the  basket,  then,  Mr. 
Wex  Barrett ;  only  you  must  give  it  to  me,  just 


URSULA'S  FRESHMAN  219 

as  soon  as  we  get  in  sight  of  the  house."  And, 
leaving  Kingsley  to  follow  with  his  burden, 
he  led  the  way  as  fast  as  his  stout  little  legs 
would  carry  him. 

Turning  at  a  sharp  angle  from  the  smooth 
country  road,  they  entered  a  long  lane  where  the 
ruts  were  buried  deep  in  grass  and  where  the 
trees,  birch  and  beech  and  butternut,  interlaced 
their  branches  overhead,  leaving  the  sunlight  to 
sift  through  them  in  flickering  patches  which 
only  served  to  enhance  the  green  coolness  be- 
neath. Squirrels,  red  and  gray,  skittered  through 
the  branches  and  mocked  defiance  at  the  wood- 
peckers, and,  from  a  distant  patch  of  ferns,  there 
rose  the  dull  drumming  of  a  startled  partridge. 

At  a  bend  of  the  lane  where  the  trees  opened 
out  for  a  little  grassy  lawn,  they  met  Ursula 
coming  towards  them,  and  Kingsley  set  down 
his  basket  in  order  to  give  her  both  his  hands. 

"By  Jove,  you  look  like  a  veritable  wood- 
nymph,"  he  said  admiringly,  as  his  eyes  mounted 
from  her  pale  green  gown  to  her  shining  braids 
of  brown  hair. 

"  I  feel  like  one  here.  Isn't  it  pretty  ?  But  I 
was  just  coming  to  see  if  you  were  really  here." 

"  I  really  am.  What's  more,  you'll  have  to 
put  up  with  me  for  three  weeks,  unless  Sister 
Eudora  Evelina  fires  me  out,"  he  responded. 


220  URSULAS  FRESHMAN 

"  Cousin  Vedowa  is  af  waid  of  fire,"  Fizzums 
observed  in  an  aggrieved  aside  which  no  one 
heeded.  "  She  tooked  all  the  matches  out  of  my 
pockets,  and  then  she  spanked  me  awful." 

Ursula  had  fallen  into  step  at  Kingsley's  side. 

"  I  can  stand  it,  if  you  can,"  she  answered. 
"  But  where  is  Nathalie  ?  " 

"  Writing  some  letters  for  Hal.  He  is  all  tired 
out,  and  she  is  playing  secretary  for  him.  She 
sent  me  over  to  hunt  you  up,  and  she  said  she 
would  be  along  in  time  to  take  me  home  to 
lunch.  How  is  Pettijack  ?  " 

Ursula  laughed. 

"  Use  that  name  to  his  face,  if  you  dare." 

"  I  did,  when  I  wrote  to  him  about  the  room, 
and,  when  he  answered,  he  signed  himself  the 
same  way.  That's  where  you  lose,  Miss  Lu- 
cretia." 

She  made  a  wry  face  at  the  name. 

"  Then  I'll  keep  on  playing  till  I  win,  Mr.  Eli. 
But  I  neglected  to  answer  your  question.  Jack 
is  reposing  on  the  knoll,  while  the  dog  digs  out  a 
woodchuck." 

"  That's  Nicodemus,"  Fizzums  explained  sud- 
denly, for  he  began  to  feel  himself  ignored  and 
left  out  of  the  conversation. 

"  Nicodemus  ?    I  thought  he  was  dead." 

"  He  was  very  much  alive,  half  an  hour  ago, 


URSULAS  FRESHMAN  221 

when  I  found  him  trying  to  bury  one  of  the  kit- 
tens in  the  pansy  bed." 

"  But  how  did  he  come  here  ?  " 

Again  Fizzums  sought  to  explain. 

"  Cousin  Yedowa  tooked  him  to  scare  away 
bugaboos ;  but,  one  day,  he  ated  up  Cousin 
Vedowa's  best  Sunday  hat.  It  was  all  over 
fevvers,  and  it  made  him  sick ;  but  it  made  her 
cwoss.  It's  worse  to  be  cwoss  than  to  be  sick. 
One  hurts  your  body,  and  the  other  hurts  your 
soul.  Cousin  Vedowa's  soul  must  have  ached 
awful.  She  didn't  love  Nicodemus  any  more, 
and  so  she  gave  him  to  Uncle  Steve  to  dig  wood- 
chucks  with." 

Leaving  Fizzums  and  his  basket  in  charge  of 
one  of  the  men  at  the  barn,  Kingsley  stopped  at 
the  house  long  enough  to  shake  hands  with  Mrs. 
Myers.  Then  he  departed  with  Ursula  in  search 
of  the  knoll  and  John.  They  found  the  knoll ; 
but  the  boy  had  disappeared. 

"  What's  your  hurry  ?  "  Kingsley  asked,  as 
Ursula  turned  to  retrace  her  steps.  "  Give  a 
fellow  time  to  look  at  the  view,  now  he's  here." 

Obediently  she  dropped  down  on  the  short, 
crisp  turf  at  his  feet. 

"  I  thought  you  wanted  to  find  Jack." 

"  Much  better  to  let  Jack  find  us,"  he  re- 
turned, as  he  settled  his  long  length  beside  her. 


URSULAS  FRESHMAN 


"  It  is  twice  as  much  work,  no,  four  times  as 
much  for  us  to  find  him  as  for  him  to  find  us." 

"  How  do  you  make  that  out  ?  "  she  asked, 
laughing. 

"  It's  twice  as  much  work  for  two  to  do  a 
thing  as  for  one  to  do  it ;  and  it  is  twice  as  much 
work  to  hunt  for  an  object  half  the  size  of  an- 
other. Twice  two  are  four,"  he  answered  com- 
posedly. Then  he  rolled  over  and  rested  on  his 
elbow.  "  Jove,  this  is  pretty  ! "  he  said,  half  to 
himself. 

Kingsley  spoke  truthfully,  for  the  knoll  was 
the  real  glory  of  all  Blowmedowne  Farm.  It 
was  merely  a  sharp  little  hillock  springing  from 
the  midst  of  an  open  pasture,  dotted  here  and 
there  with  silver-green  mulleins  like  huge  velvet 
rosettes  set  against  the  short  green  turf.  Be- 
hind it,  the  mountain  rose  sharply,  its  wall  of 
solid  trees  broken  only  by  the  house  and  its 
broad  lawn ;  but  before  it  there  opened  out  a 
long  strip  of  valley  where  the  blue  Connecticut 
wound  away  and  away  between  the  notches  of 
the  hills,  down  to  the  distant  sea.  And  always, 
at  the  southern  end  of  the  picture,  the  blue  lines 
of  Ascutney  showed  themselves,  the  crowning 
beauty  of  the  whole. 

Suddenly  Kingsley  sat  up  and  faced  Ursula 
again. 


URSULA'S  FRESHMAN  223 

"  Mighty  good  idea  your  coming  back  east !  " 

"  I'm  glad  you  think  so." 

"  Of  course.     Don't  you  ?  " 

She  picked  a  mullein  leaf  and  slowly  tore  the 
velvety  surface  across  and  across. 

"  Naturally,  or  I  shouldn't  have  come." 

"  It  will  make  a  lot  of  difference  to  Nathalie 
and  Mr.  Arterburn,  to  say  nothing  of  all  the  rest 
of  us,"  he  went  on. 

There  was  the  least  possible  hesitation  in  the 
busy  hands. 

"  Nathalie,  yes.  But  I  don't  suppose  Mr.  Ar- 
terburn cares  much,  one  way  or  the  other." 

"Not  even  to  keep  a  pupil?"  he  inquired 
jestingly. 

Her  cheeks  flushed  angrily. 

"  That  shows  you  don't  know  Mr.  Arterburn." 

"  I  was  only  joking." 

"There  are  some  subjects  that  are  beyond  a 
joke,"  she  said  shortly.  "Mr.  Arterburn  is  a 
gentleman,  and,  what's  more,  he  isn't  greedy." 

"  That's  where  you  tell  the  truth,"  he  assented. 
"Nobody  likes  Harry  Arterburn  better  than  I 
do.  I  have  reason  to.  I  wish  he  were  a  stronger 
fellow,  though.  Some  day,  he  will  go  to  pieces." 

"  What  do  you  mean  ?  "  Ursula  asked  sharply. 

"What  I  say.  He  works  hard  enough  for 
three  or  four  men,  and  it  is  all  head  work,  too. 


224  URSULAS  FRESHMAN 

Mac  Holden  told  him,  two  years  ago,  that  he 
must  go  slow ;  but  he  is  at  it  faster  than  ever. 
I  haven't  seen  him  since  Easter  till  last  night, 
and  I  should  hardly  have  known  him." 

"It's  those  children,"  Ursula  said,  as,  with  a 
vicious  sweep  of  her  hand,  she  flirted  the  scraps 
of  mullein  from  her  lap. 

"  It's  the  need  for  money,  more,"  Kingsley  an- 
swered gloomily.  "  Money  is  an  awful  bore, 
anyhow.  If  you  don't  have  it,  you  need  it.  If 
you  do,  you  worry  for  fear  you  may  lose  it  all." 

Ursula  ruthlessly  interrupted  his  philosophizing. 

"It  is  those  children,"  she  asserted  again. 
"  They  are  enough  to  try  the  patience  of  a  saint, 
even  of  a  saint  like  Harry  Arterburn.  Fizzums 
is  bad  enough.  He  spends  every  other  day  in 
solitary  confinement  for  some  prank  he  has 
played,  the  day  before ;  but  even  he  isn't  a  cir- 
cumstance to  Kalph  and  Peggy.  As  nearly  as  I 
can  discover,  they  have  spent  the  whole  year  in 
squabbling,  and  have  saved  up  all  their  telltale 
complaints  to  pour  into  Mr.  Arterburn's  ears. 
They  want  this,  and  they  must  do  that,  and  they 
fret  about  the  other  thing,  until  he  is  half  worn 
out." 

Impatiently  Kingsley  sent  a  stone  crashing 
down  the  hillside  to  frighten  the  cows  grazing 
below. 


URSULA'S  FRESHMAN  225 

"  Ralph  isn't  a  bad  fellow,"  he  said ;  "  but  I 
detest  Peggy.  What  is  more,  she  returns  the 
compliment  with  energy." 

"  You'd  better  thank  Providence  for  so  much. 
At  least,  that  keeps  her  from  being  under  your 
feet,  the  whole  time,"  Ursula  responded.  "  Jack 
hates  her,  too.  He  told  her,  the  other  day,  that 
he  would  set  Nicodenms  on  her,  if  she  didn't  go 
home  and  stay  there." 

"  Pettijack  has  good  sense.  She  is  a  most  un- 
desirable young  person."  Then  he  put  his  hands 
to  his  mouth.  "  Oh,  Nathalie  !  "  he  shouted,  as 
he  caught  sight  of  two  bare  yellow  heads  coming 
towards  them. 

It  was  John  who  answered. 

"  Well,  you  are  a  great  fellow,"  he  said,  as  he 
dropped  down  beside  Kingsley. 

"  There  appears  to  be  a  pair  of  us.  But  what's 
the  matter  now  ?  " 

"  Nathalie  said  you  had  come  down  to  see  me." 

"  Well,  here  I  am." 

"  Maybe ;  but  you  don't  appear  to  have  had 
any  overpowering  desire  to  find  me." 

"  Don't  let  your  temper  get  frazzley  at  the 
ends,  Pettijack,"  Kingsley  advised  him  tran- 
quilly. "We  found  your  trail  here,  and,  not 
seeing  you,  we  naturally  inferred  that  you  and 
Nicodemus  had  gone  inside  the  hole  to  have  a 


226  URSULA'S  FRESHMAN 

game  of  romps  with  the  woodchuck.  Hullo, 
Nicodemus,  you  brute  !  Come  along  and  shake 
hands  with  an  old-time  friend." 

But  Nicodemus  sulkily  withdrew  himself  to 
the  pile  of  fresh  earth  beside  the  woodchuck 
hole,  and  prepared  to  renew  his  excavations. 

"Has  anybody  seen  Fizzums?"  Nathalie  in- 
quired anxiously. 

"Yes,  he  was  sitting  on  the  pigpen  fence, 
armed  with  an  old  umbrella  and  a  basket  of  sour 
apples.  The  last  I  saw  of  him,  he  was  preparing 
to  make  things  merry  for  the  pigs,"  John  reas- 
sured her.  "  How  is  Yale,  Rex  ?  " 

"  Blooming,  and  bluer  than  indigo." 

"  Anybody  dead  ?  " 

"  No ;  with  loyalty,  not  grief.  Likewise,  after 
the  fashion  of  Fizzums  with  the  pigs,  it  is  pre- 
paring to  make  things  merry  for  the  freshmen, 
next  fall." 

"  You  were  a  freshman  once,  yourself,"  Nath- 
alie reminded  him. 

"  "Was  I  ?  It  is  so  long  since  that  I  can't  seem 
to  remember.  Besides,  in  my  very  first  week, 
didn't  Ursula  lustily  and  aloud  proclaim  that  I 
looked  like  a  senior  ?  Ursula,  my  admiration  for 
you  dates  from  that  hour.  I  always  recognize 
a  girl  of  discreet  understanding,  when  I  see 
one." 


URSULAS  FRESHMAN  227 

"  I  should  know  better,  another  time,"  she  an- 
swered him.  "By  the  time  you  are  a  senior, 
you  probably  will  be  fresher  than  you  are  now. 
You  aren't  a  fair  test,  either.  You  had  some 
older  brothers  to  teach  you  the  traditions  of  the 
place." 

"  And,  by  Jove,  that's  an  advantage,  too,"  he 
said,  with  sudden  seriousness.  "  Some  of  the 
freshmen  do  make  awful  cads  of  themselves. 
They  come  from  away,  and  they  don't  know 
anything  about  college,  and  they  think  it  is 
funny  to  live  in  a  perpetual  row.  They  aren't 
the  best  fellows,  by  any  means,  and  there  aren't 
many  of  them  ;  but  they  manage  to  keep  them- 
selves before  the  public  till  the  whole  class  gets 
credit  for  their  foolery.  Every  year,  there's  a  set 
of  fellows  that  appear  to  think  they  are  the  first 
and  only  freshmen  who  ever  entered  Yale." 

"Take  warning,  Jack,"  Ursula  admonished 
him.  "Hear  the  words  of  the  sophomore,  and 
consider  yourself  wise." 

But  Kingsley  shook  his  head. 

"  Anyhow,  even  if  you  do  laugh,  wisdom  lies 
that  way.  I  had  a  senior  brother,  and  he  gave 
me  some  mighty  good  points  that  I  propose  to 
pass  on  to  Pettijack.  There's  fun  enough  going, 
all  over  the  campus,  without  a  fellow's  constantly 
running  up  against  the  police,  because  he  is  hunt- 


228  URSULAS  FRESHMAN 

ing  for  more.  A  cad  is  a  cad,  inside  a  univer- 
sity or  out." 

Nathalie  nodded  energetic  approval. 

"  You're  all  right,  Kex.  I've  heard  Harry  say 
the  same  thing.  I'll  say  Amen  to  your  sermon, 
no  matter  how  often  you  preach  it." 

"  I  don't  want  to  preach,"  he  returned,  a  little 
abashed  by  her  word ;  "  but  there's  no  Bae- 
decker's  Guide  to  Yale,  and  lots  of  fellows,  every 
year,  run  aground  for  lack  of  a  little  friendly 
steering  from  one  of  the  older  men.  Moreover, 
once  they  are  down,  they  aren't  condemned  one 
bit  harder  by  the  faculty  than  they  are  by  the 
best  men  of  their  own  class.  That's  all ;  but  I 
have  been  there  and  seen." 

Ursula  brushed  away  the  sand  from  the  flying 
paws  of  Nicodemus,  and  smoothed  down  her  gown. 

"You've  right  on  your  side,  Kex,"  she  said 
then.  "  I  think  I  am  willing  to  trust  Jackie  to 
your  fostering  care.  You  probably  will  haze 
him;  but  you  will  pour  good  advice  into  his 
ears,  between  whiles.  And  now,  if  you  have 
finished  your  sermon,  suppose  we  consider  how 
we  can  amuse  ourselves  for  the  next  three 
weeks." 

"But  I  want  a  share  in  that  discussion." 

Ursula  turned  around  eagerly  at  sound  of  the 
new  voice. 


URSULAS  FRESHMAN  229 

"  Uncle  Steve  !  I  was  wishing  you  would 
come.  Have  you  met  Mr.  Barrett  ?  " 

Kingsley  turned  a  little  indifferently.  The 
next  instant,  he  was  on  his  feet,  hat  in  hand.  He 
had  heard  of  Mr.  Stephen  Thain  as  a  country 
farmer  who  managed  Blowmedowne  for  his 
sister  and  occupied  a  part  of  the  house  during 
her  absence;  he  met  Mr.  Stephen  Thain  as  he 
would  have  met  one  of  his  father's  New  York 
friends.  A  later  acquaintance  proved  that  his 
first  instinct  had  been  a  correct  one,  for,  under- 
neath the  blue  overalls,  there  was  a  finished 
gentleman.  Mr.  Thain's  hands  were  slim  and 
nervous,  his  gray  eyes  steady,  his  accent  free 
from  any  twang. 

Deliberately  he  pushed  JSTicodemus  aside  and 
seated  himself  on  the  mound  of  earth,  facing  the 
group. 

"  This  is  a  great  chance  for  me,"  he  said,  with 
a  twinkle  in  his  eyes  that  harmonized  with  the 
ring  of  his  voice.  "  I  don't  often  have  a  chance 
to  explore  the  country  with  four  new  people, 
and  I  mean  to  make  the  most  of  it.  How  soon 
can  you  be  ready  to  start  ?  " 

Ursula  rose. 

"Soon  enough  to  get  home  in  time  to  start 
again,"  she  answered  definitely. 


230  URSULA'S  FRESHMAN 


CHAPTER  SEVENTEEN 

IT  was  only  the  next  morning  that  Harry 
Arterburn  came  tramping  down  the  lane  at 
a  great  pace.  Ursula,  on  the  broad  veranda, 
saw  him  from  afar,  and  waved  her  hand  in  wel- 
come. He  ignored  the  greeting. 

"  Have  you  seen  Fizzums  ?  "  he  asked  abruptly, 
as  soon  as  he  was  near  enough  to  make  himself 
heard. 

"  No."  Ursula's  accent  was  rising,  the  accent 
of  optimism. 

Harry  came  up  the  steps  two  at  a  time,  and 
sat  down  on  the  rail.  As  she  saw  his  pallor  and 
heard  his  quick,  short  breathing,  Ursula  told  her- 
self that  something  was  seriously  amiss. 

"  Where  can  he  be  ?  "  he  said  anxiously. 

"Really,  I  haven't  seen  him  since  yesterday 
morning.  Is  he  lost  ?  " 

"  We  can't  find  him  anywhere.  We  have  been 
hunting,  for  an  hour.  He  came  down,  early  this 
morning,  and  Cousin  Eudora  saw  him  going  to- 
wards the  barn.  None  of  the  men  have  seen 
him  ;  but  he  didn't  come  back  to  breakfast." 


URSULAS  FRESHMAN  231 

"  Our  barn,  or  yours  ?  " 

"  Ours.  Joe  and  Mike  were  both  there,  milk- 
ing ;  but  they  haven't  seen  anything  of  him." 

"  Try  our  barn,  then,"  Ursula  suggested  prac- 
tically. "He  spends  half  his  time  at  Uncle 
Steve's  heels.  He  may  be  in  the  harness-room 
with  him  now." 

Bareheaded  and  in  her  fresh  white  gown,  she 
led  the  way  to  the  huge  barns,  up  into  the  empty 
harness-room,  down  between  the  dusty,  fragrant 
mows,  and  on  into  the  long  cowhouse  where  the 
tawny  Jerseys  stood  in  their  stanchions,  philo- 
sophically chewing  their  cuds  until  such  time  as 
they  should  be  turned  out  again  into  the  dewy 
pasture.  The  whole  place  echoed  with  her  calls ; 
but  no  childish  voice  came  in  answer. 

Out  in  front  of  the  barn,  Ursula  paused. 

"  Let  me  see,"  she  said  thoughtfully.  "  He 
prowls  all  over  the  upper  pasture.  What  if  you 
look  up  there  ?  " 

Harry  took  a  step  or  two  forward ;  then  he 
turned. 

"  Aren't  you  coming,  too  ?  " 

For  an  instant,  Ursula  glanced  downward  at 
the  dainty  gown  and  French  slippers  which  she 
had  donned  in  honor  of  a  promised  call  from 
Kingsley.  Then  she  looked  up  at  Harry's  ex- 
pectant, anxious  face. 


232  URSULAS  FRESHMAN 

"  Of  course  I  am  coming.  I  know  the  pasture 
better  than  you  do,  for  it  is  one  of  my  favorite 
places,  and  I  have  explored  it,  from  one  end  to 
the  other.  Jack  and  I  were  there,  only  day  be- 
fore yesterday  ;  and  we  found  Fizzums  sitting  on 
a  rock  at  the  very  top  of  the  pasture,  playing 
hunter,  with  a  black  stump  for  a  bear  and  a 
cornstalk  for  a  gun.  He  probably  is  there  now." 

Harry  smiled  down  at  her  gratefully.  He  felt 
an  irresistible  longing  to  pat  the  shining  brown 
hair  that  was  moving  along  beside  his  shoulder. 
Ursula  seemed  to  him  only  a  child ;  but,  with  a 
half  smile,  he  admitted  to  himself  the  childish 
pique  with  which  she  would  receive  any  such 
demonstration  on  his  part.  Instead,  he  con- 
tented himself  with  saying, — 

"You  are  a  comforting  sort  of  girl,  Ursula. 
Sure  you  don't  mind  the  climb  ?  " 

In  her  secret  heart,  she  did  mind  it  exceed- 
ingly, for  the  morning  was  a  sultry  one,  and, 
moreover,  she  was  remote  from  the  source  of 
new  slippers.  Nevertheless,  it  sufficed  for  her 
that  it  was  Harry  Arterburn  who  was  in  such 
evident  trouble,  and  she  answered  gayly, — 

"  Do  I  ever  mind  a  walk  ?  Come ;  this  is  the 
way." 

She  accepted  the  needless  steadying  of  his 
hand  across  the  brook  where  the  turfy  edges 


URSULA'S  FRESHMAN  233 

were  punctured  with  round  black  holes  made  by 
the  hoofs  of  drinking  cattle.  Then  she  led  the 
way  alertly  up  the  stony  slope,  through  the  thick 
dark  shadow  of  the  pine  grove  and  out  upon  the 
open  hillside  of  the  upper  pasture.  Up  and  up 
they  followed  the  trail,  past  sweetbriar  bushes, 
past  patches  of  sweet  fern,  past  great  gray 
boulders,  each  set  in  its  encircling  wreath  of 
clustering  brakes.  Now  and  then  they  halted 
to  call  and  call  again ;  then  they  went  forward 
swiftly,  with  Ursula  too  far  in  the  lead  to 
see  the  growing  whiteness  of  her  companion's 
face. 

At  the  summit,  however,  even  she  paused  for 
breath,  while  Harry  came  forward  to  her  side. 
They  stood  there  together  for  a  few  minutes, 
alternately  calling  and  looking  about  them,  not 
at  the  view  which  opened  out  grandly  before 
them  to  the  very  foothills  of  the  "White  Moun- 
tains, but  over  the  pasture  at  their  feet,  question- 
ing every  rock  and  boulder  to  see  whether  it 
might  be  the  hiding-place  of  the  chubby  little 
figure  they  had  sought  so  far  in  vain.  At  last, 
Harry  turned  away. 

"  He's  not  there,"  he  said.  "  What  is  over 
beyond  those  trees  ?  " 

Already  Ursula  had  started  down  the  trail. 

"  Oh,  nobody  ever  goes  over  there,"  she  an- 


234  URSULAS  FRESHMAN 

swered  carelessly.  "  It's  only  the  Bottomless 
Pool." 

"  The  what  ?  "  Harry  asked  sharply. 

"The  Bottomless  Pool.  You  know  every 
well-regulated  farm  owns  one.  But  he  isn't  over 
there.  It  is  all  fenced  off,  and  nobody  goes  near 
it,  once  a  year.  Where  are  you  going  ?  " 

"  To  the  pool." 

"  There's  no  use." 

"  Perhaps  not.     Still,  I  know  Fizzums." 

She  followed  him  closely.  No  longer  had  she 
any  cause  to  take  thought  for  her  slippers  which 
already  were  hopeless  wrecks.  But  Harry  was 
in  the  lead  now,  and  even  Ursula,  strong  and 
lithe  as  a  girl  could  be,  was  hard  pressed  to  keep 
up  with  his  rapid  pace.  They  were  dropping  a 
little  behind  the  crest  of  the  hill  that  blotted  the 
view  from  sight ;  but,  over  the  tree-tops  before 
them,  the  blue  peak  of  Ascutney  shot  upward, 
boldly  outlined  against  the  paler  blue  of  the  sky. 
They  halted  at  the  fence  which  shut  in  the  still 
black  pool.  Then  Harry  turned  away. 

"  Nothing  here,"  he  said  briefly. 

"  "Wait ! "  Ursula's  tone  was  sharp  with  fear. 
"What's  that?" 

His  glance  followed  her  pointing  finger.  Then, 
for  his  only  answer,  he  vaulted  the  fence  and 
stooped  to  pick  up  the  little  handkerchief,  smudgy 


URSULAS  FRESHMAN  235 

and  knotted  at  the  corners,  one  of  which  was 
marked  with  a  single  letter. 

"It's — it's "  The  words  came  thickly 

from  his  tongue.  Then  suddenly  he  dropped  on 
the  long,  rank  grass  which  edged  the  pool. 

For  the  moment,  Ursula  could  not  have  felt 
more  absolutely  alone  with  Harry,  had  they  been 
sole  survivors  of  a  shipwreck  on  the  edge  of  the 
Antarctic  Continent.  It  was  the  first  time  she 
had  seen  any  one  lose  consciousness,  and  she  had 
no  restoratives  at  hand,  even  if  she  had  known 
how  to  use  them.  Out  of  sight  and  sound  of  the 
house,  she  could  call  no  one  to  her  aid,  and  she 
dared  not  leave  Harry  alone,  so  perilously  near 
the  edge  of  that  black,  still,  stagnant  pool.  The 
terror  of  her  position  swept  over  her  and  shook 
her  healthy  nerves.  Then  she  gripped  her  cour- 
age fast  with  both  hands,  and  tried  to  think  what 
she  ought  to  do,  in  the  face  of  such  a  crisis. 

There  was  a  long  sound  of  tearing,  as  she 
forced  her  way  between  the  wires  of  the  high 
fence;  then  she  stumbled  over  a  sharp  stone 
which  cut  away  the  whole  side  of  one  of  her  slip- 
pers. Too  intent  upon  her  work  to  heed  tearing 
or  cuts,  however,  she  reached  Harry's  side  and 
bent  over  him  in  increasing  alarm.  Only  his 
breath,  which  came  at  intervals  in  short,  jerking 
gasps,  showed  her  that  life  was  still  in  his  keep- 


236  URSULA'S  FRESHMAN 

ing.  How  long  it  would  remain  in  his  keeping, 
she  was  afraid  to  ask  herself.  Then  it  was  that, 
for  the  first  time  in  their  friendship,  Ursula  Thain 
realized  the  place  which  Harry  Arterburn  had 
come  to  fill  in  her  girlish  life.  Child  as  she  was, 
she  realized  it  then ;  but  it  was  not  until  years 
afterwards  that,  looking  backward,  she  understood 
what  might  have  been  the  meaning  of  that  hour. 

She  could  do  but  little.  Gently  she  moved 
him  until  he  lay  more  comfortably ;  she  loosened 
the  clothing  at  his  neck  and  put  water  on  his 
face,  shuddering  slightly  as  the  lifeless  drops 
touched  the  equally  lifeless  forehead.  Then,  with 
one  lingering  look  along  the  path  they  had  come, 
she  sat  down  beside  him  to  wait.  For  what  she 
was  waiting,  she  could  not  tell. 

It  seemed  to  her  that  the  moments  dragged  on 
endlessly.  Slowly  the  sun  swept  up  across  the 
sky  until  it  found  a  gap  in  the  trees  through 
which  it  could  stare  remorselessly  down  into  the 
still,  white  face.  The  jersey  cows,  long  since 
turned  out  from  the  barn,  sauntered  up  to  the 
fence  and  peered  through  it  at  her,  nuzzling  and 
jostling  each  other  to  make  sure  of  getting  the 
best  point  for  observation.  At  length,  Nicodemus, 
always  a  tramp  by  nature,  came  jogging  along 
the  path  on  his  daily  tour  of  inspection.  The 
sight  brought  Ursula  a  certain  courage.  It  was 


URSULA'S  FRESHMAN  237 

possible  that  Nicodemus  might  have  a  human 
companion.  It  was  also  possible  that,  lacking  a 
companion,  he  might  be  sent  galloping  off  in 
search  of  help,  like  the  fabled  dogs  of  the  Saint 
Bernard.  She  waited  a  moment  to  assure  her- 
self that  he  was  alone.  Then  she  softly  called 
him  to  her  side. 

Nicodemus  heard  the  voice  and  paused,  with 
his  ears  and  his  left  forefoot  raised,  to  dis- 
cover whence  it  came.  She  repeated  the  call, 
and  there  was  a  sudden  scattering  of  the  cows, 
as  the  dog  dashed  in  among  them,  slid  under  the 
fence  and,  with  a  joyous  yelp,  plumped  himself 
into  her  lap  and  fell  to  licking  her  face  in  a  per- 
fect frenzy  of  devotion. 

"  Nicodemus  ! "  she  ordered  him.  "  Nicodemus, 
go  find  massa  and  bring  him  here." 

"With  an  answering  plunge,  Nicodemus  sprang 
upward  with  his  forepaws  on  her  shoulders,  and 
began  pressing  damp  kisses  into  the  hollow  of 
her  ear. 

"  Oh,  Nicodemus,  you  stupid  !  Go  find  some- 
body. Eats !  Nicodemus,  sic'  'em  ! " 

Without  an  instant's  hesitation,  Nicodemus 
leaped  down,  and  began  digging  an  imaginary 
woodchuck  from  under  Harry  Arterburn's  left 
hip.  Ursula  sprang  to  catch  him  ;  but  his  stumpy 
tail  eluded  her  grasp,  and  his  active  little  paws 


238  URSULA'S  FRESHMAN 

were  hard  at  work.  It  proved  to  be  good  work, 
too.  The  steady  jog,  jog,  against  Harry's  side 
slowly  sent  some  message  to  the  dulled  brain. 
He  stirred  a  little  and  opened  his  eyes. 

Joy  brought  swift  inspiration  to  Ursula.  The 
energetic  paws  of  Nicodemus  had  pulled  Harry's 
coat  aside  until  she  could  see  a  note-book  and  the 
end  of  a  pencil  in  his  breast  pocket.  She  took 
them,  tore  out  a  leaf  and  wrote  a  few  words. 
Then  she  took  off  the  white  ribbon  that  belted 
her  gown,  tied  the  note  into  it  and  tied  the  rib- 
bon around  the  neck  of  Nicodemus  who  showed 
his  masculine  love  of  finery  by  standing  motion- 
less to  be  adorned.  Then  she  bent  over  the  dog 
and  kissed  him  between  his  tattered  ears. 

"  I'm  sorry,  Nicodemus  dear,"  she  said  softly  ; 
"  but  it  is  the  only  way.  Now Go  home  ! " 

There  was  a  swift,  sharp  blow,  a  yelp  of  pain, 
and  then  Nicodemus,  white  bow  and  all,  went 
scudding  up  the  path  and  vanished  over  the  crest 
of  the  hill,  while  Ursula  settled  herself  for  the 
little  time  of  waiting  which  must  remain  to  her. 

It  proved  to  be  a  long  time  of  waiting,  how- 
ever, for  Nicodemus  brought  no  answering  mes- 
sage. Slowly  Harry's  full  consciousness  came 
back  to  him,  and  his  color  changed  from  bluish 
gray  to  the  more  normal  tint  of  healthy  man- 
hood ;  but  it  was  long  before  he  could  sit  up, 


URSULAS  FRESHMAN  239 

longer  still  ,before,  leaning  on  Ursula's  strong 
young  arm,  he  could  attempt  the  difficult  walk 
back  to  the  house.  Kingsley  saw  them  coming, 
and  met  them  at  the  barn. 

"  What  has  happened  ?  "  he  asked  abruptly. 

"  Mr.  Arterburn  felt  faint ;  he  went  up  the 
hill  too  fast,"  Ursula  answered  for  him,  hoping  to 
forestall  any  reference  to  Fizzums,  for  she  saw 
from  Kingsley's  face  that  the  passing  hours  had 
brought  no  news  of  the  child. 

Her  care  was  in  vain. 

"  Eex,"  Harry  spoke  with  perfect  quiet ;  "  I 
am  afraid  Fizzums  has  fallen  into  the  pond  on 
the  hill.  We  found  his  handkerchief  close  be- 
side it,  inside  the  fence.  Will  you  get  the  men 
to  go  up  there  ?  I  am  afraid  I " 

"Steady."  Kingsley's  voice  was  low  and 
level,  and  he  slipped  his  arm  around  the  burden 
which  was  fast  becoming  too  heavy  for  Ursula's 
strength.  "That's  all  right;  come  right  over 
against  me.  Now  we'll  put  you  on  Mrs.  Myers's 
couch,  and  then  I'll  see  about  things  for  you.  I 
don't  think  the  little  chap  is  drowned.  Most 
likely  it  is  a  false  alarm ;  but  I'll  go  up  and  look 
the  ground  over.  Here  we  are.  Now  stretch 
yourself  out,  while  Ursula  gets  you  something  to 
put  a  little  life  into  you.  Jack,  will  you  go  down 
to  the  house  and  ask  Nathalie  to  come  over  ? 


240  URSULA'S  FRESHMAN 

Tell  her  there's  nothing  to  worry  about.  Take 
care  of  yourself,  Hal.  I'll  bring  you  some  good 
news  before  long."  And  he  swung  himself  over 
the  veranda  rail,  and  went  striding  away  out  of 
sight. 

In  the  late  twilight,  he  joined  Nathalie  who 
was  sitting  in  the  doorway,  holding  her  throb- 
bing head  between  her  hands.  Harry  had  fallen 
asleep  at  last ;  she  could  do  nothing  more  but  sit 
there,  and  watch  the  darkness  creep  down  from 
the  hillsides  and  up  from  the  distant  river,  the 
pitiless  darkness  which  would  mark  the  passing 
of  the  last  day  of  the  life  of  Fizzums.  For 
Harry's  sake,  the  girl  had  kept  up  bravely.  Now 
that  she  was  free  to  give  way  to  her  sorrow,  the 
tears  refused  to  come  at  her  bidding.  She  sat 
there,  stunned  and  apathetic,  until  Kingsley 
dropped  down  beside  her. 

"  I  have  good  news  for  you,"  he  said. 

She  started  up. 

"  Fizzums  ?  " 

"  No.  I'm  sorry,  Nathalie ;  but  it's  not  that. 
It  is  only  that  Mac  Holden  will  be  here  at  nine, 
to-night." 

"Rex!  You  dear  old  comfort!"  Her  voice 
broke. 

"  Of  course  I'm  a  comfort,"  he  answered 
cheerily.  "You  can't  get  on  without  me,  you 


URSULA'S  FRESHMAN  241 

know.  I  wired  Mac,  this  noon,  when  Hal  came 
home,  for  I  thought  he  would  better  have  some- 
body look  him  over.  I  had  great  luck,  too.  I 
caught  Mac  just  as  he  and  Aunt  Ted  were  leav- 
ing Boston  for  Halifax,  and  they'll  be  here,  to- 
night." 

"  She  is  coming,  too  ?  " 

"  Yes,  I  thought  she'd  better.  Mrs.  Myers  will 
take  them  in.  I'm  going  over,  in  a  few  minutes, 
to  tell  her  to  get  the  rooms  ready.  She  won't 
mind,  and  this  house  is  full." 

Nathalie's  lower  lip  quivered. 

"  It  is  the  first  good  news  I  have  heard,  to-day. 
I  can  bear  it  better,  with  Dr.  Holden  here.  But, 
Kex,  what  could  I  do  without  you  ?  " 

With  the  touch  of  an  older  brother,  he  drew 
her  over  against  his  shoulder. 

"Let  it  cry  itself  out,  Nathalie,"  he  said 
gently.  "  It's  got  to  come  ;  but — I'm  so  sorry." 

"  But  it  is  both  Fizzums  and  Hal,"  she  said  at 
length.  "  This  morning,  I  should  have  said  that 
one  alone  would  kill  me ;  but  here  I  am,  with 
Fizzums  gone,  and  Hal  just  coming  back  from 
the  other  edge  of  things.  Kex,  Harry  mustn't  be 
ill." 

"  Trust  Mac,"  he  advised  her. 

She  raised  her  head. 

"     do." 


242  URSULAS  FRESHMAN 

The  dusk  gathered  fast  and  faster,  while  they 
sat  there  in  silence.  Then,  all  of  a  sudden,  they 
sprang  up.  Out  from  the  open  barn  door  there 
sauntered  a  chubby  little  figure  who  paused,  just 
across  the  threshold,  to  stretch  himself  and  give 
a  mighty  yawn.  By  his  side  trudged  Nicodemus 
from  whose  neck  dangled  the  sodden  ends  of  a 
much-chewed  white  satin  ribbon. 

"  Fizzums ! " 

"What?"  The  voice  expressed  bland  con- 
tent. 

"  Where  have  you  been  ?  " 

"  In  the  barn." 

"All  day?" 

"Yes." 

"  What  have  you  been  doing  ?  " 

Fizzums  wriggled  out  of  Nathalie's  embrace. 

"I  went  out,  early  this  morning,  to  play 
'Lijah  in  the  Wilderness  in  the  hay,  and  see  if 
the  wavens  would  come.  I  tooked  some  cookie, 
so,  if  they  didn't,  I  wouldn't  be  hungry.  No- 
body came,  so  I  ated  the  cookie,  and  bimeby  I 
went  asleep.  Nicodemus  came ;  but  he  wasn't  a 
waven.  He  went  asleep,  too,  just  like  me,  and 
we've  only  just  awaked  up." 

"  But  we  thought  you  were  drowned." 

"  Where  ?  "  Fizzums  spoke  with  sudden  in- 
terest. 


URSULA'S  FRESHMAN  243 

"  Up  in  the  pool  on  the  hill." 

"  Hh  !  I  wouldn't  go  vere.  Vere's  a  bogey- 
man lives  inside  it." 

"  But  they  found  your  handkerchief  close  be- 
side it." 

"  Oh,  yes,  I  merember  now.  I  went  up  to 
take  some  cucumbers  to  the  bogey-man,  and  mine 
handkerfins  was  all  mixed  up  with  the  cucum- 
bers, so  I  frowed  it  away.  It  wasn't  a  very  big 
one,  and  it  had  a  hole  in  it,  too." 

Nathalie  dropped  his  hand  and  turned  towards 
the  house. 

"  Where  are  you  going  ?  "  Fizzums  inquired. 

"  To  tell  Harry  that  you  have  come.  Your 
running  away  has  made  poor  Harry  very  ill, 
Fizzums." 

"  I'm  sorry,"  Fizzums  said  affably.  "  I  didn't 
know  it.  Now,  if  you  please,  I  think  I'd  like 
mine  dinner." 


244  URSULA'S  FRESHMAN 


CHAPTER  EIGHTEEN 

T  TTTERLY  exhausted  by  the  exciting  events 
V-/  of  the  day,  Ursula  had  gone  to  bed  at  dusk, 
and  was  just  preparing  to  cry  herself  to  sleep, 
when  she  heard  John  come  leaping  up  the  stairs, 
two  steps  at  a  time.  The  next  instant,  two  lusty 
fists  descended  upon  her  door. 

"Wake  up,  Ursula!     Fizzuras  has  come  back." 

"Jack!" 

"  Yes,  he's  been  doing  Elijah  under  the  juniper 
tree,  only  he  overslept  himself  and  missed  the 
ravens,  so  he  came  home  ravenous.  That's  a 
borrowed  pun  ;  but  no  matter." 

Ursula  struggled  into  a  wrapper  and  joined 
him  in  the  hall. 

"  Little  wretch !  And  how  is  Mr.  Arter- 
burn  ?  " 

"  Better,  Rex  said.  He  just  came  over  to  tell 
us  about  Fizzums,  and  that  Dr.  Holden  and  Mrs. 
Farrington  will  be  here,  to-night." 

Ursula  drew  a  long  breath. 

"I  am  so  glad.  They  all  think  that  Dr. 
Holden  can  raise  the  dead ;  and  then  he  has 


URSULA'S  FRESHMAN  245 

known  about  these  turns  of  Mr.  Arterburn,  be- 
fore now." 

John  sat  down  beside  her  on  the  top  stair. 

"  From  all  I  hear,  you  must  have  acted  up  like 
a  good  fellow,  Ursula." 

"  I  don't  see  how." 

"  Not  losing  your  head,  and  all  that." 

She  laughed  scornfully. 

"Only  idiots  do  that.  Besides,  I  didn't  have 
head  enough  to  do  me  any  good.  I  had  never 
seen  anybody  like  that  before,  and  I  didn't  know 
a  solitary  thing  to  do." 

"  But  you  did  it." 

"  Yes,  I  just  sat  there  and  watched  him,  and 
wondered  if  somebody  would  ever  come.  Oh, 
Jackie,  it  was  horrible.  I  was  sure  he  was  go- 
ing to  die  there  alone,  and  I  didn't  dare  leave 
him,  within  three  feet  of  the  pool,  for  fear  he 
would  move  and  roll  down  into  it.  It  seemed  to 
me  I  sat  there  about  seventeen  years." 

"  By  the  way,"  John  inquired  suddenly ; 
"  where  did  Nicodemus  get  his  white  ribbon  ? 
Kex  says  Nathalie  insists  upon  it  that  it  is  your 
belt."  ' 

"  Nicodemus  ?    Did  he  go  home,  after  all  ?  " 

"  He  came  home  just  now  with  Fizzums,  and  he 
had  on  a  tag  end  of  a  huge  white  satin  bow.  We 
hadn't  heard  of  any  wedding  where  he  had  been 


246  URSULAS  FRESHMAN 

asked  to  officiate,  and  Fizzums  says  he  doesn't 
know  where  the  bow  came  from." 

"  Oh,  Jack  ! "  And  Ursula  burst  out  laughing 
nervously.  "  That  Nicodemus  !  He  came  up  to 
me,  by  the  pool,  and  I  tried  to  send  him  home. 
At  first,  he  thought  I  meant  woodchucks,  and  he 
half  undermined  Mr.  Arterburn.  Then  I  wrote 
a  note  and  tied  it  to  him  with  my  belt,  and 
thumped  him  as  hard  as  I  could.  He  started  for 
home,  and  that  was  the  last  I  saw  of  him." 

"  And  the  last  you'll  see  of  your  note,"  John 
predicted,  quite  unaware  of  the  fact  that,  years 
after,  the  tattered  scrawl  would  come  to  light 
from  the  depths  of  one  of  Harry's  pockets. 
"Next  time  you  want  a  trusty  messenger, 
Ursula,  I  would  pass  Nicodemus  by  and  take  a 
cow.  But  Rex  told  mother  that  Mr.  Arterburn 
is  worrying  about  you.  It  seems  that  he  asked 
you  to  go  with  him,  because  he  felt  queer  and 
didn't  dare  go  alone ;  and  now  he  is  afraid  that 
it  will  lay  you  up." 

Ursula  smiled  a  little  unsteadily. 

"  Nonsense,  Jackie !  I  don't  lay  up  as  easily 
as  all  that,  and  I  am  glad  I  could  be  the  one  to 
go,  only  really  I  didn't  do  anything  at  all.  But, 
ever  since  I  came  to  New  York,  Mr.  Arterburn 
and  you  have  been  my  truest  friends.  Perhaps 
some  day  I  shall  get  a  chance  to  show  you,  too, 


URSULA'S  FRESHMAN  247 

that  I  appreciate  it."  Then  she  rose  and  stood 
with  her  hand  resting  on  his  shoulder.  "  Good- 
night, Jackie,  and  don't  let  anything  bad  happen 
to  you.  I  never  could  bear  that."  And  she 
turned  and  went  back  to  her  room. 

Early  the  next  morning,  she  sat  on  the  steps 
of  the  veranda,  rebuking  the  faithless  Nico- 
demus.  Under  her  caustic  tongue,  Nicodemus 
was  fast  losing  his  perkiness ;  but  Ursula  was  as 
fresh  and  unruffled  as  if  she  had  devoted  the 
previous  day  to  a  veranda  chair  and  a  soothing 
book. 

"  Oh,  you  untrusty  servant ! "  she  was  saying, 
as  she  set  the  dog  up  in  front  of  her  and  steadied 
him  by  his  forepaws.  "  Sit  and  think  of  your 

sins.  Aren't  you  ashamed  of  yourself  for 

No !  Sit  up !  You  can  do  it,  when  there's  a 
biscuit  in  sight.  Who  ate  up  a  note,  like  a 
horrid,  dissipated  little  postman  ?  " 

As  Nicodemus  vainly  sought  to  bury  his  face 
in  the  palm  of  her  admonishing  hand,  Ursula 
heard  a  low  laugh  behind  her.  Letting  Nico- 
demus  topple  over  and  go  sprawling  down  the 
steps,  she  rose  to  greet  the  guest. 

"  Is  it  Dr.  Holden  ?    How  is  Mr.  Arterburn  ?  " 

For  an  instant,  their  eyes  met  with  full  ap- 
proval on  both  sides.  She  saw  a  tall,  broad- 
shouldered  man  with  thick  yellow  hair  and  keen 


248  URSULA'S  FRESHMAN 

blue  eyes.  He  looked  down  on  a  pretty,  eager 
face  where,  for  the  moment,  all  the  brilliancy 
had  given  place  to  wishfulness. 

"  Yes,  I  am  Dr.  Holden,  and  I  suspect  that  you 
are  Miss  Ursula  Thain." 

"  And  Mr.  Arterburn  ?  "  she  demanded. 

"Much  better,  this  morning." 

"  Have  you  been  over  there  so  early  ?  " 

"It's  not  so  early,  and  doctors  haven't  any 
especial  hours,  you  know.  Besides,  Mr.  Arter- 
burn is  one  of  my  best  friends." 

"  I  think  he's  mine,  too,"  Ursula  said  slowly. 

He  looked  down  at  her  with  the  grave,  intent 
smile  which  seemed  characteristic  of  him. 

"  Yes,  he  told  me  you  proved  it,  yesterday." 

"But  I  didn't  do  anything." 

"  There  wasn't  much  that  you  could  do.  You 
had  no  stimulants,  and  it  wasn't  safe  to  leave 
him,  to  get  any.  Some  girls  would  have  gone 
rushing  away  in  search  of  help.  It  was  so  much 
better  that  you  didn't.  But  he  told  me  to  find 
out  how  you  are,  this  morning." 

She  brushed  his  words  aside  impatiently. 

"Nothing  ever  hurts  me.  "What  made  him 
faint  away  ?  " 

Dr.  Holden  hesitated.  Then  suddenly  he  re- 
alized that  it  was  safe  to  trust  the  girl  before 
him. 


URSULA'S  FRESHMAN  249 

"  His  heart  isn't  quite  right,"  he  answered 
briefly.  "  It  is  better  not  to  say  much  about  it ; 
but  it  hasn't  been  right,  for  a  good  while.  All 
winter  long,  he  has  worked  too  hard.  I  thought 
he  would  come  out  of  it  without  any  sharp  at- 
tack; but  his  anxiety  about  Fizzums,  and  his 
climbing  the  hill  too  fast " 

"  Was  I  to  blame  ?  "  she  interrupted. 

"  You  ?  " 

"  Yes.  I  went  ahead."  Her  voice  vibrated 
with  sudden  fear. 

Dr.  Holden's  smile  was  reassuring. 

"  It  wouldn't  have  made  any  difference,  if  you 
had  been  dragging  him  back.  When  it  comes  to 
a  question  of  those  children,  Harry  Arterburn 
never  thinks  of  himself." 

"  I'd  like  to  choke  that  Fizzums,"  Ursula  mut- 
tered vengefully. 

To  her  surprise,  Dr.  Holden  burst  out  laughing. 

"  I Well,  I  wish  he  could  get  a  change 

of  heart,"  he  answered. 

"  Now,  Mac,  changes  of  heart  don't  grow  on 
bargain  counters,  and  you  were  an  imp  once, 
yourself." 

He  turned  with  a  boyish  eagerness. 

"  Aunt  Ted  !     Up  so  early  ?  " 

"  Yes.  I  wanted  to  hear  from  Hal."  Mrs. 
Farrington  came  slowly  forward  and  rested  her 


250  URSULAS  FRESHMAN 

hands  on  Ursula's  shoulders.  "And  this  is 
Ursula  Thain?  I  saw  you  once,  child,  just 
about  a  year  ago.  I  have  always  remembered 
you,  too,  you  and  your  father." 

Ursula  looked  up  expectantly  into  the  womanly 
face  before  her. 

"  I  think  I  know  when,"  she  answered,  with  a 
little  tinge  of  shyness. 

"  At  New  Haven  ?  Yes.  And  I  never  forgot 
it,  because  you  and  your  father  were  on  such 
intimate  terms.  I  liked  to  watch  you,  for  my 
father  and  I  have  been  just  such  friends.  Is  he 
well?" 

Ursula's  face  lighted. 

"Isn't  he  fine?"  she  burst  out  with  the  en- 
thusiasm of  a  child,  quite  forgetful  that  she  was 
talking  to  one  of  the  foremost  novelists  of  the 
day,  a  woman  in  whose  presence  her  elegant 
little  aunt  looked  like  an  overdressed  doll.  "  But 
what  do  you  suppose  we  all  would  have  said, 
that  day,  if  anybody  had  told  us  that,  within  the 
year,  I  should  have  been  up  here  with  you  and 
Nathalie  and  Eex  ?  " 

Mrs.  Farrington  laughed  at  the  girlish  question. 

"  Chance  does  strange  things.  At  least,  I  am 
grateful  to  it  for  bringing  me  into  such  a  lovely 
place.  Is  Harry  going  to  be  well  enough  so  you 
can  leave  him,  to-day,  Mac  ?  " 


URSULAS  FRESHMAN  251 

Dr.  Holden  looked  a  little  troubled. 

"  I  don't  want  to  part  company,  Aunt  Ted ; 
but  I  would  like  to  watch  him,  for  a  few  days. 
Do  you  mind  ?  " 

"  I  don't  mind  anything,  dear  boy.  I'll  run 
over  to  Jackson  and  spend  a  few  days  with 
Allyn  and  Cicely,  and  you  can  pick  me  up  there. 
As  long  as  we  get  our  trip  in  the  end,  I  don't 
care  how  long  you  delay  it." 

However,  at  the  breakfast  table,  Mrs.  Myers 
protested  vehemently.  Mrs.  Farrington  de- 
murred, then  yielded,  and  John  and  Ursula  retired 
from  the  dining-room  to  mingle  their  prayers 
that  Harry  Arterburn's  convalescence  might 
be  a  slow  one.  It  was  no  trivial  blessing  to 
be  for  a  week  in  the  same  house  with  Mrs. 
Theodora  McAlister  Farrington,  to  say  noth- 
ing of  her  nephew  and  namesake,  Dr.  McAlister 
Holden. 

"Do  you  know,  Mac,  I  have  rather  enjoyed 
the  visit,"  Mrs.  Farrington  said,  as  they  walked 
down  the  lane  in  the  twilight,  one  night.  "  Mrs. 
Myers  has  been  perfect  in  her  hospitality,  and  I 
like  her  so  much  better  than  I  expected.  Your 
Aunt  Babe  hasn't  been  quite  fair  to  her,  and  then 
my  experience  with  her  husband  wasn't  alto- 
gether reassuring." 

Dr.  Holden's  laugh  startled  a  squirrel  from  a 


252  URSULA'S  FRESHMAN 

stone  by  the  roadside,  and  sent  him  scampering 
away  in  search  of  shelter. 

"Do  you  mean  the  time  he  brayed  himself 
into  the  middle  of  your  dinner  party  ? "  he 
asked. 

"  Yes,  and  the  time  he  took  me  for  a  penny- 
dreadful  woman.  Jack  asked  me,  last  night, 
if  I  had  ever  met  his  father." 

"  What  did  you  tell  him  ?  " 

"The  truth;  but  I  edited  it,  and  then  I 
changed  the  subject.  Mac,  that's  a  fine  boy." 

Dr.  Holden  assented  with  unexpected  fervor. 

"  He  is.  I  have  been  watching  him,  and  he's 
as  sound  as  a  nut.  He  will  be  a  good  friend  for 
Rex,  too.  I  wish  they  were  in  the  same  class." 

"Don't  worry  about  that,"  Mrs.  Farrington 
returned  philosophically.  "  You  are  quite  likely 
to  get  your  wish,  for  Rex  is  so  lazy  that  he  may 
be  dropped,  any  day." 

They  walked  on  in  silence  for  a  time.  At 
length  Dr.  Holden  spoke,  and  the  words  came 
with  some  difficulty. 

"  Aunt  Ted  ?  " 

"  Well,  Mac  ?  "  she  asked,  as  he  came  to  a  full  stop. 

The  difficulty  seemed  to  increase. 

"  Aunt  Ted,"  he  said  at  length  ;  "  my  mother 
is  in  Montana,  and  I  think,  as  long  as  she  isn't 
here,  I'd  like  to  have  a  talk  with  you." 


URSULA'S  FRESHMAN  253 

Mrs.  Farrington  stretched  out  her  hand  to  his. 

"  Thank  you,  my  dear  boy.  Shall  we  sit  down 
here  for  a  little  while  ?  " 

He  nodded,  and  they  took  their  places  on  a 
rough  board  seat  under  a  beech-tree.  Around 
them,  already  the  white  birches  were  growing 
misty  in  the  twilight ;  from  above  their  heads 
sounded  the  last  good-nights  of  the  drowsy  birds. 

"  Well,  Mac,  what  is  it  all  about  ?  "  she  asked, 
after  a  long  interval. 

"It  is  about  a  good  many  things,"  he  an- 
swered. "  One  of  them  is  Harry  Arterburn." 

"  Isn't  he  coming  out  all  right  ?  "  Mrs.  Farring- 
ton asked  quickly. 

"  Coming  out,  yes ;  all  right,  no.  He  isn't  go- 
ing to  be  an  invalid,  by  any  means ;  but  he  will 
never  be  a  really  strong  man.  With  care,  he 
may  outgrow  this  heart  trouble,  even  now ;  but 
overwork  and  any  excitement  are  going  to  bring 
on  these  attacks,  and  every  attack  will  make  his 
outgrowing  it  a  little  less  likely." 

Mrs.  Farrington  stared  gravely  at  the  yellow 
head  beside  her.  She  could  not  see  the  eyes,  for 
Dr.  Holden  was  bending  forward,  watching  the 
figures  he  was  tracing  in  the  earth  of  the  path- 
way. 

"  It  is  a  dreary  outlook,  Mac,"  she  said  regret- 
fully. "  Is  there  any  remedy  ?  " 


254  URSULAS  FRESHMAN 

He  shook  his  head. 

"  I  can't  see  much.  It  is  a  hard  case,  where  a 
man  needs  nothing  but  rest  and  freedom  from 
care,  and  can't  take  either.  He  won't  save  him- 
self in  the  least.  He  loves  work  for  the  mere 
pleasure  of  getting  it  done ;  but,  even  if  he 
didn't,  he  couldn't  afford  to  stop.  He  is  in  an 
endless  treadmill,  with  those  children  goading 
on  and  on.  Sometimes  it's  an  awfully  cruel 
world,  Aunt  Ted.  The  worst  of  it  is,  there's  no 
way  of  evening  things  up.  My  profession  is 
bringing  me  in  four  times  as  much  as  I  need ; 
but  I  can't  share  it  with  Harry  Arterburn.  I 
can  only  stand  by,  and  see  him  working  himself 
to  death  for  the  lack  of  something  I  have  and 
don't  need." 

The  words  had  a  ring  of  desperation  and,  as 
he  looked  up  at  her,  Mrs.  Farrington  was  sur- 
prised to  see  something  glitter  on  his  long  yellow 
lashes. 

"And  then  there's  Nathalie,"  he  went  on 
swiftly.  "  The  time  has  come  when  she  must  be 
told  about  this  trouble,  so  that  she  can  be  on  her 
guard,  and  guard  Hal  from  all  the  worry  that 
she  can.  Do  you  realize  what  it  is  to  put  such  a 
strain  on  a  girl  of  her  age  ?  She  will  have  no 
one  back  of  her,  and  she  adores  Hal.  I  must 
warn  her.  It  is  necessary  that  she  should  know ; 


URSULAS  FRESHMAN  255 

but  do  you  wonder  I  shrink  from  telling 
her  ?  " 

"  You  are  sure  it  is  necessary  ?  " 

"  Yes,  if  there's  to  be  any  chance  of  a  cure. 
It  is  the  one  hope  that,  by  sparing  him.  in  every 
possible  way,  he  may  in  time  outgrow  it.  It 
largely  depends  on  her  pluck  and  endurance; 
but  I  have  seen  worse  cases  than  Harry  Arter- 
burn's  pull  out  of  it.  I  only  hope  he  may." 

"  Do  you  know,  Mac,"  Mrs.  Farrington  said 
thoughtfully ;  "  I  sometimes  think  you  love 
Harry  Arterburn  best  of  all  your  patients." 

Suddenly  he  rose  and  stood  in  the  path,  facing 
her. 

"No,  Aunt  Ted.  That  is  the  real  thing  I 
wanted  to  say  to  you.  I  love  Nathalie  better." 

"  Mac  !     My  dear  boy  !  " 

"  I  thought  perhaps  you  would  have  seen  it," 
he  said  steadily.  "It  is  nothing  new.  Two 
years  ago,  when  she  was  only  a  child,  I  knew  the 
hope  for  the  sake  of  which  I  was  willing  to  work 
and  wait.  She  is  older  now,  eighteen,  and  things 
are  going  to  bear  down  on  her  hard,  for  the  next 
few  years.  Aunt  Ted,  do  you  think  it  is  too 
soon  ?  " 

Putting  out  both  hands,  she  took  his  two  hands 
and  drew  him  down  beside  her. 

"Mac,"  she  said,  as  she  looked  straight  into 


256  URSULA'S  FRESHMAN 

his  eyes  ;  "  before  I  advise  you,  tell  me  one  thing 
truly.  Are  you  saying  this  because  you  care  for 
Nathalie  Arterburn,  or  because  you  love  Natha- 
lie Arterburn's  brother  ?  " 

The  blue  eyes  met  her  eyes  gravely,  unflinch- 
ingly. 

"  Aunt  Ted,  I  should  be  a  brute,  if  I  married  a 
girl  I  didn't  love,  just  out  of  pity  for  her 
brother." 

"  Then  my  blessing  go  with  you,  dear  boy  I " 
she  said  slowly.  "  She  is  a  superb  girl,  and  de- 
serves even  you." 

"  And  you  think  mother " 

""We  none  of  us  could  ask  anything  better, 
Mac.  When  you  are  ready,  let  me  write  to  your 
mother." 

"  You  always  have  spoiled  me,  Aunt  Ted,"  he 
said  gratefully.  "  And  you  don't  think  she  is 
too  young  ?  " 

"  I  am  not  sure  what  to  say,  Mac,"  she  said, 
after  a  pause.  "  As  a  rule,  I  don't  believe  in  a 
girl's  marrying  so  young ;  but  Nathalie  is  in 
some  ways  very  mature,  and  the  case  is  a  little 
unusual.  As  you  say,  there  is  no  one  back  of 
her,  and  the  time  has  come  when  she  needs  some 
one  to  hold  her  up." 

"  Of  course,"  he  said  quietly ;  "  I  have  no 
reason  to  count  too  much  on  the  future.  I  may 


URSULA'S  FRESHMAN  257 

find  that  she  does  not  care  for  me,  after 
all." 

Mrs.  Farrington's  eyes  rested  proudly  on  the 
manlike  face,  while  her  mind  swept  backward 
over  the  times  she  had  watched  him  and  Nath- 
alie together. 

"  I  think  she  does,  Mac." 

The  color  rushed  hotly  upwards  across  his 
cheeks  and  brow. 

"  I  hope  so,"  he  said  briefly.  "  I  have  done 
my  best  to  have  it  so." 

"  Harry  will  be  happy  about  it,"  Mrs.  Farring- 
ton  suggested. 

"  Yes,"  he  assented ;  "  I  think  he  will.  We 
are  close  friends,  and  I  know  he  has  worried 
about  Nathalie." 

"  Mac !    Does  he  know  his  danger  ?  " 

"  Yes,  at  its  worst.  He  has  faced  it  like  a  man, 
and  put  his  house  in  order;  but  he  means  to 
fight  like  a  hero  for  every  chance  that  he  can 
get." 

"The  dear  fellow!" 

Dr.  Holden's  smile  was  very  sad. 

"  He  has  known,  for  more  than  two  years,  that 
things  weren't  straight  with  him  ;  but  he  begged 
me  to  keep  still  about  it.  He  has  talked  to  me 
again  and  again  about  Nathalie ;  but  she  was  so 
young  that  I  felt  it  wasn't  fair  to  her,  to  tell  him 


258  URSULAS  FRESHMAN 

all  I  was  hoping.  Now,  Aunt  Ted,  I  think  the 
time  has  come." 

Under  cover  of  the  growing  darkness,  her 
hand  shut  over  his. 

"  Yes,  Mac,  I  think  it  has.  And,  if  everything 
comes  out  as  you  wish  it,  say  to  the  dear  girl 
that  Aunt  Ted  is  ready  to  stand,  as  far  as  can  be, 
in  the  mother's  place." 

"  Thank  you,  Aunt  Ted ;  it's  like  you."  Then 
he  rose  and  stood  before  her,  drawn  to  his  fullest 
height.  "  To-morrow,"  he  added  slowly ;  "  I 
must  tell  her  about  Hal ;  but,  before  I  speak  of 
him,  I  shall  have  asked  Nathalie  Arterburn  to  be 
my  wife." 


URSULA'S  FRESHMAN  259 


CHAPTEK  NINETEEN 

,  Jackie,  why  is  it  necessary  for  one 
weary  head  to  have  twenty  pillows  to 
rest  on?"  Ursula  protested,  while  she  stitched 
away  diligently  at  the  huge  white  seal  she  was 
embroidering  on  a  square  of  blue  satin. 

"  Because  the  head  is  so  full  of  wisdom  that  no 
one  pillow  will  support  it,"  he  replied  tranquilly. 
"  How  many  does  this  make,  really  ?  " 

"Fourteen.  They  are  horridly  monotonous, 
too,  nothing  but  this  everlasting  blue  and  white. 
Don't  you  think  a  crimson  one  would  set  the 
others  off,  or  else  an  orange  and  black  ?  " 

"  It  would  set  itself  off,  out  of  the  window," 
he  returned.  "You'd  better  not  waste  your 
work.  Fourteen  blue  ones  will  do  for  a  starter. 
Most  likely  Jack  Dorrien  will  have  a  few." 

"  Are  you  going  to  put  out  a  Jack  of  Hearts 
for  a  door-plate?"  she  inquired,  while  she 
threaded  a  needle.  "It  seems  to  me  I  would 
have  had  names  enough  to  go  round." 

"  Never  you  mind  the  name.  Jack  is  a  good 
fellow." 


260  URSULAS  FRESHMAN 

"  I  am  much  more  interested  in  knowing 
whether  he  has  good  taste,"  Ursula  interrupted 
loftily.  "  You  are  going  to  have  such  a  sweet 
room  that  I  hope  he  won't  put  any  trash  into  it." 

"  He's  safe.     His  father  is  an  artist." 

Ursula  shook  her  head. 

"  All  the  more  dangerous.  Mr.  Dorrien  is  an 
impressionist,  and  Jack  may  fill  up  the  walls 
with  stuff  his  father  can't  sell.  Still,  you  can 
rise  triumphant,  for  you  have  that  French  poster 
that  Nathalie  gave  you.  I  don't  wish  to  be 
critical,  Jack,  and  I  suppose  it  is  choice ;  but  it 
looks  to  me  as  if  it  had  been  washed  and  boiled, 
without  its  being  fast  color." 

"  You're  nothing  but  a  Vandal,"  he  answered. 
"  You'd  like  a  whole  menagerie  of  Barye  beasts 
in  plaster." 

"  I  know  that.  They're  neat,  and  they  don't 
fade.  I  wanted  you  to  get  a  plain  couch  cover, 
instead  of  that  thunder-and-lightning  Indian 
blanket.  If  it  had  been  made  here  in  New 
York,  Jack,  you'd  say  it  was  hideous.  Why 
didn't  you  get  one  of  Miss  Eudora's  drawn-in 
rugs,  if  you  are  after  primitive  American  art? 
She  had  a  beautiful  one  of  cattails  and  poppies 
growing  out  of  an  indigo  lawn.  It  would  have 
added  ever  so  much  to  your  room." 

"  I'll  leave  it  for  yours.     Where  is  mother  ?  " 


URSULAS  FRESHMAN  261 

"Packing  curtains  and  such  stuff.  She  told 
me  to  tell  you  that  the  man  was  coming  at  ten, 
to  do  the  pictures.  Oh,  Jack,  whatever  shall  I 
do,  when  your  room  is  a  wilderness  ?  " 

"  Go  and  irrigate  it  with  your  tears,"  he  sug- 
gested. 

"  I  shall.  I  am  going  to  be  so  lonely.  I  can't 
even  have  Nathalie  any  more.  Whenever  I  go 
there,  Dr.  Holden  is  either  just  going  out,  or  just 
coming  in,  and  I  do  detest  having  a  man  always 
under  foot."  The  silk  broke  under  Ursula's  en- 
ergetic fingers. 

"  How  is  Mr.  Arterburn  ?  " 

"  Growing  stronger,  every  day.  He  really  be- 
gins to  look  as  he  did,  when  I  first  saw  him.  He 
will  be  ready  for  work,  next  week." 

"  But  not  for  you." 

She  shook  her  head. 

"  Alas,  no.  I  am  doomed  to  school.  I  sha'n't 
like  it  half  so  well,  and,  besides,  I  shall  miss  see- 
ing him,  every  day." 

John  raised  his  brows. 

"  I  thought  you  detested  having  a  man  always 
undei  foot,"  he  reminded  her  unkindly. 

"  Don't  sit  on  rny  work-basket,"  she  remon- 
strated hastily.  "  I  do.  Still,  there  is  a  differ- 
ence in  men,  and  I  know  that  Dr.  Holden  is 
neglecting  his  patients,  just  for  the  sake  of 


262  URSULAS  FRESHMAN 

mooning  around  with  Nathalie  Arterburn.  I 
am  disappointed  in  Nathalie,  anyway.  I  never 
had  supposed  she  was  that  kind  of  a  girl." 

"  "Wait  till  your  own  turn  comes  1 " 

Ursula  frowned. 

"  It  won't,"  she  said  shortly. 

"  Don't  be  too  sure.  When  it  does,  may  I  be 
there  to  see ! " 

"  All  right ;  only  don't  forget  your  spectacles. 
You  will  be  so  old,  you  can't  see  without  them. 
But,  Jack,  I  really  can't  believe  that  you  are 
going  so  soon." 

"  To-morrow  noon,"  he  assured  her.  "  Never 
mind,  though ;  you  and  mother  will  be  up  there, 
until  Monday." 

"  Yes.  It  is  a  year  ago  this  week  that  I  first 
saw  the  place,"  Ursula  said  thoughtfully.  "I 
didn't  suppose  then  that  I  should  ever  be  help- 
ing a  freshman  to  settle  his  room ;  but  then,  I 
used  to  think  that  freshmen  were  superior 
beings.  It  is  going  to  be  a  pretty  room,  Jackie ; 
but  I  wish  it  were  ten  times  as  much  so." 

It  was  a  pretty  room  when,  three  days  later, 
Mrs.  Myers  and  Ursula  straightened  their  Aching 
backs  and  looked  about  them.  It  was  by  no 
means  orthodox  to  turn  the  picture  hanging  into 
a  maternal  function,  but  Mrs.  Myers  had  in- 
sisted, and  John  had  let  her  have  her  way. 


URSULA'S  FRESHMAN  263 

Even  better  than  his  mother,  he  had  realized 
that  this  was  the  last  time  she  was  to  assume 
full  right  to  order  his  possessions.  He  could 
never  retrace  the  steps  that  led  out  of  his  boy- 
hood. 

"  It  is  entirely  too  good  a  room  for  a  pair  of 
freshmen,"  Ursula  said,  as  she  studied  Nathalie's 
poster  which  held  the  place  of  honor  on  the 
southern  wall.  "Jack  Dorrien  knows  more 
girls  than  our  Jack  does,  and  they  make  his  side 
of  the  room  look  rather  like  a  junk  shop,  with 
their  assorted  contributions.  Jackie's  side  is 
perfect.  Those  two  old  prints  and  the  Hermes 
are  almost  too  much  riches  for  one  wall.  How 
do  you  like  it,  Jackie  ?  "  she  added,  as  the  door 
opened,  and  John  appeared. 

"  Good ;  but  you  look  utterly  tired  out." 

"  We  are  somewhat  tuckered,  as  Miss  Eudora 
has  it ;  but  we  are  so  pleased  with  ourselves  that 
it  will  untuck  us.  We  are  ready  to  abdicate  in 
your  favor." 

"  You  deserve  a  rest.  What  are  you  going  to 
do?" 

"  Your  mother  is  going  to  the  hotel  for  a  nap. 
I  am  going  in  search  of  a  mouthful  of  fresh  air." 

"It  will  take  a  lot,"  John  observed.  "Let's 
go  hunt  clams." 

Her  face  lighted. 


264  URSULA'S  FRESHMAN 

"  Jack,  an  inspiration !  We'll  go  down  to  the 
place  where  father  and  I  were,  last  year." 

"  That's  what  I  meant.  Do  you  know  where 
it  was  ?  " 

"  I  can  find  it  again.  Are  you  sure  you  don't 
need  me,  Aunt  Ursula  ?  " 

"  Yes.  I'll  finish  tying  these  curtains  ;  then  I 
will  go  over  to  the  hotel.  Aren't  you  too  dusty 
to  go,  as  you  are  ?  " 

"  No.  I'll  brush  off  the  worst  of  it,"  Ursula 
answered  tranquilly. 

Her  aunt  looked  at  her  with  some  degree  of 
doubt. 

"Well,  perhaps  it  won't  show.  Be  sure  you 
bring  her  back  in  time  to  dress  for  dinner, 
John." 

"  Sure.  Sorry  you're  too  tired  to  go  with  us." 
And  the  door  shut  behind  them,  leaving  Mrs. 
Myers  to  complete  her  task  alone. 

When  all  was  done,  she  dropped  into  a  chair 
and  regarded  her  work  contentedly.  There  was 
good  reason,  moreover,  for  her  contentment. 
Since  the  early  months  of  her  married  life,  Mrs. 
Myers  had  known  no  such  happy  time  as  that 
summer  had  brought  her.  Even  now  she  was 
unable  to  understand  how  it  had  come  to  pass 
that  of  late  she  and  her  husband  had  become  so 
much  more  intimate  than  ever,  how  she  had 


URSULA'S  FRESHMAN  265 

coaxed  him  into  taking  more  frequent  holidays 
at  Blowmedowne,  and  why  it  was  that,  twice 
that  summer,  it  had  been  imperative  that  she 
should  run  down  to  the  city  to  spend  a  week 
with  him  in  the  deserted  house.  On  the  second 
of  those  occasions,  too,  she  had  lured  Dr.  Holden 
into  dining  with  her,  and  she  had  been  willing 
to  sit  silent  and  leave  to  her  husband  the  full 
enjoyment  of  their  guest.  A  year  before,  she 
would  have  kept  the  conversational  ball  entirely 
within  her  grasp. 

John,  too,  was  a  just  cause  for  much  pride. 
It  was  something  for  a  boy  to  take  the  last  of 
his  final  examinations  on  his  sixteenth  birthday, 
and  to  come  out  from  them,  without  a  condition. 
It  was  still  more  to  come  out  from  them,  un- 
tainted by  conceit  or  prigginess.  Her  only  child 
was  going  far  towards  the  fulfilment  of  all  her 
dreams  for  him,  and,  for  them  all,  the  future  was 
full  of  promise.  She  glanced  up  to  the  wall 
above  the  desk  where,  as  John  had  insisted,  hung 
the  narrow  frame  that  held  the  trio  of  home  pic- 
tures, Ursula,  her  husband  and,  in  the  middle, 
her  dainty  little  self,  dressed  in  one  of  the  even- 
ing gowns  which  her  boy  liked  so  well. 

"  Yes,  I  ought  to  be  so  happy,"  she  said  to 
herself.  "  I  am  happy,  too,  very  happy  ;  only — 
this  is  the  first  giving  up  of  my  boy." 


266  URSULA'S  FRESHMAN 

"  But  it  seems  ages  on  ages  ago,"  Ursula  said, 
an  hour  later,  as  she  and  John  scrambled  over 
the  rocks  and  sat  down  by  the  lonely  cedar  tree. 

"  You  are  sure  it  is  the  same  place  ?  " 

"  Yes.  My  father  sat  just  where  you  are,  and 
I  was  here.  I  wish  he  were  with  me  now." 

"  Much  obliged." 

"  Oh,  there's  plenty  of  room  for  three.  Some 
day,  Jackie,  I  hope  you  will  know  him.  It  is 
my  dream  to  have  us  all  live  near  each  other." 

"  I  am  afraid  you  will  find  it  hard  to  make 
connections.  But  I  did  see  him,  you  know." 

"For  a  week.  Besides,  you  have  improved 
since  then.  But  isn't  it  strange,  Jack  ?  I  feel 
so  much  nearer  him  here  than  I  ever  do  in  New 
York." 

"Because  you  didn't  have  on  your  company 
manners  here,"  John  suggested. 

"Possibly.  And  Mrs.  Barrett  and  Mrs.  Far- 
rington  were  over  there,"  Ursula  tossed  a  horse- 
shoe crab  towards  a  ledge  close  by ;  "  and,  clear 
out  there,  Nathalie  and  Kex  were.  Don't  you 
wish  they  were  there  now  ?  " 

"  Thanks ;  but  I  think"  I  prefer  this,  if  you 
don't  mind,"  Kingsley's  voice  remarked  in  their 
ears.  "How  do,  Ursula?  Howdy,  Pettijack? 
I  just  dropped  in  at  Pierson,  and  found  your 
mother  bathed  in  tears." 


URSULA'S  FRESHMAN  267 

John  started  up  in  alarm. 

"  What  has  happened  ?  " 

"  Nothing ;  only  general  misery  at  the  pros- 
pect of  losing  her  first-born  into  the  ravenous 
maw  of  the  world.  I  chirked  her  up  by  inform- 
ing her  that  you  weren't  worth  fussing  about, 
and  that  most  likely  the  world  would  ship  you 
back  to  her  as  damaged  goods.  I  took  her  over 
to  the  hotel,  and  she  rewarded  my  efforts  at  con- 
solation by  telling  me  you  had  gone  clamming. 
I  immediately  headed  for  this  spot,  for  I  knew 
Ursula  would  want  to  see  the  place  where  first 
we  met." 

"  Yes,"  she  assented  pitilessly.  "  I  wanted  to 
see  it  in  its  natural  beauty,  without  any  jarring 
details." 

"  I'm  no  jarring  detail.  I'm  a  sophomore,  and 
an  integral  part  of  Yale." 

"  When  did  you  come  ?  " 

"  This  noon.  I  came  in  from  Quantuck,  yes- 
terday, took  the  Fall  Kiver  boat  to  New  York 
and  spent  just  an  hour  at  the  house,  pulling  sum- 
mer clothes  out  of  my  trunk  and  stuffing  winter 
ones  in.  You  just  ought  to  see  the  way  I  left 
my  room !  It  will  give  the  mater  an  ague  fit, 
when  she  gets  home." 

"  When  does  she  come  ?  " 

"  In  about  three  weeks.     She  and  the  Farring- 


268  URSULAS  FRESHMAN 

tons  and  the  Ainslees  are  going  to  stay  till  they 
get  frozen  out,  and  Mac  is  going  to  take  Nath- 
alie over  for  a  week." 

"  What  about  Mr.  Arterburn  ?  "  Ursula  asked 
jealously. 

"He  will  live  on  faith  and  fried  eels  at  a 
restaurant." 

"  Not  if  my  mother  knows  herself,"  John  in- 
terposed. "  He  can  eat  at  our  house.  I'll  men- 
tion it  to  her,  to-night." 

"That's  a  good  scheme,"  Kingsley  said  ap- 
provingly. "It  will  keep  Hal  from  forgetting 
that  he  owns  an  inner  man,  and  it  will  also  sug- 
gest to  your  mother  that  you  aren't  the  only 
youth  worth  the  feeding.  But  you've  a  great 
room,  Pettijack.  It  is  one  of  the  best  in 
Pierson." 

"Of  course.  So  am  I,"  John  answered 
serenely. 

"Well,  then  see  to  it  that  your  room  isn't 
better  than  your  company.  If  I  were  you,  I'd 
write  on  the  door  '  No  Admittance  to  Sports  and 
Grinds.'  Then  you  would  have  a  happy  medium. 
Where  do  you  eat  ?  " 

"  Commons." 

"  All  right.  See  you  don't  spill  things.  They 
really  ought  to  furnish .  high  chairs  and  tin  trays 
for  the  freshmen.  I  wish  I  were  settled,  Ursula ; 


URSULAS  FRESHMAN  269 

I'd  like  Mrs.  Myers  to  bring  you  over  to  the 
room ;  but  it's  mostly  a  mess  of  packing  boxes. 
You'll  have  to  wait  till  you  come  up  for  the 
game." 

"  What  game  ?  " 

Kingsley  eyed  her  despairingly. 

"Ursula!  Had  you  ever  happened  to  hear 
that  Yale  and  Harvard  sometimes  kick  each 
other,  and,  incidentally,  a  football  ?  "Well,  that 
game.  It  is  here,  this  fall,  and  you  are  coming." 

"  How  do  you  know  ?  " 

"  Because  the  mater  is  going  to  bring  you  and 
Nathalie  to  see  it." 

"And  Dr.  Holden?" 

Kingsley  shook  his  head  in  scorn. 

"  Sorry  a  bit  of  Mac  will  she  ask.  He's  an  old 
man,  too  old  for  our  crowd,  even  if  he  did  have 
the  cheek  to  get  himself  engaged  to  Nathalie. 
No ;  it  is  my  show,  all  mine.  I  shall  take  you ; 
Pettijack  will  take  Nathalie ;  and  the  mater  will 
take  herself  along,  as  a  peace  offering  to  Mother 
Grundy.  Pettijack,  do  you  realize  that  you  are 
a  man  now,  and  that  an  engaged  girl  can't  be 
seen  in  public  with  you,  unless  she  lugs  a  chap- 
eron along  in  her  other  hand  ?  It's  a  great  thing 
to  arrive  at  man's  estate ;  but  now  and  then  it  is 
mighty  inconvenient." 

"  It  is  also  inconvenient  to  watch  the  sun  set- 


270  URSULAS  FRESHMAN 

ting,  and  to  know  that  Jack  promised  to  get  me 
back  in  time  to  prink  for  dinner,"  Ursula  re- 
minded him. 

Kingsley  straightened  up  from  the  comfortable 
spot  where  he  had  been  stretched  out  at  full 
length  at  her  feet. 

"  Then  I  should  advise  you  to  be  at  it,"  he 
said  unceremoniously.  "  Your  gown  is  so  dusty 
that  it  makes  me  feel  sneezish,  and  you  are  going 
to  have  company  to  dinner,  too." 

"Who?" 

"  In  the  language  of  the  immortal  Fizzums, 
mineself.  Your  aunt  invited  me  to  come  and 
show  Pettijack  how  to  eat  like  a  man  and  a 
student.  No  more  pap  boats  for  you,  Pettijack. 
It  will  be  grilled  bones  from  this  day  forward." 

John  had  already  risen ;  but  Ursula  lingered, 
staring  out  with  grave  eyes  at  the  trio  of  light- 
houses and  the  gleaming  waves  beyond. 

"He  would  have  been  so  happy  here,  this 
afternoon,"  she  said  slowly.  "Jack,  you  can't 
be  thankful  enough  to  have  your  father  within 
easy  reach." 

John's  eyes  suddenly  grew  as  grave  as  her 
own. 

"  I  know  that,  Ursula,"  he  answered. 

But  Kingsley  heaved  a  portentous  sigh. 

"  And  mine  is  grinding  out  a  sonata  beside  the 


URSULA'S  FRESHMAN  271 

shore  of  the  loud-roaring  deep  at  Quantuck, 
with  four  hours  of  solid  seasickness  between  him 
and  his  son.  He's  a  nice  gentleman  and  a  great 
composer ;  but  a  precious  poor  sailor.  Ten  min- 
utes in  that  boat  on  the  sand  over  there  would 
do  for  him  completely."  Then  he  bent  over  and 
offered  his  hand  to  Ursula.  "  If  we  must  go,  we 
must,"  he  said  regretfully ;  "  but  let  us  hope  we 
can  sit  together  on  these  rocks,  this  time  next 
year." 

But  the  next  year  held  in  its  keeping  other 
plans  for  some  of  them. 


272  URSULAS  FRESHMAN 


CHAPTER  TWENTY 

SWIFTLY  and  smoothly  the  train  was  sliding 
along  through  grove  and  field  and  subur- 
ban village,  laying  down  the  miles  behind  it 
with  a  speed  so  great  as  to  have  outrun  all  sug- 
gestion of  hurry.  Nevertheless,  to  John  Myers, 
sitting  up  straight  and  rigid  in  the  forward  car, 
it  seemed  that  the  ride  to  New  York  was  taking 
two  hundred  hours  instead  of  its  allotted  two. 
To  his  impatient  mind,  the  engineer  was  running 
in  perpetual  fear  of_  a  hot  box,  and  he  sought  to 
measure  his  advance  by  counting  the  hurried 
views  of  the  Sound  which  dotted  off  the  weary 
miles. 

That  had  been  his  leisure  day  of  all  the  week. 
Directly  after  lunch,  he  had  gone  back  to  his 
room  to  brush  up  one  of  his  lessons,  before 
getting  off  his  mid-week  letter  home.  On  the 
way,  he  had  stopped  at  the  post-office  to  find  one 
of  Ursula's  bulky  scrawls  awaiting  him  and,  once 
in  his  room,  he  had  cast  himself  down  on  the 
window  seat  to  decipher  it  at  his  ease.  As  he 
had  stopped  to  turn  one  of  the  later  pages,  he 


URSULAS  FEESHMAN  273 

had  caught  sight  of  Kingsley  Barrett  who  was 
coming  down  the  street  at  a  pace  quite  remark- 
able for  a  person  of  his  leisurely  habits.  The 
window  flew  open,  and  John  leaned  out. 

"  Oh,  Kex !     Coming  up  ?  " 

Kingsley  glanced  upward ;  but  there  was  no 
trace  of  his  customary  joviality  in  his  face. 

"  I  am  coming.     Is  Dorrien  there  ?  " 

"  No.     He  has  recitation,  this  hour." 

"  All  right.     I  wanted  to  see  you  alone." 

It  took  a  most  undue  space  of  time  for  Kings- 
ley  to  mount  the  one  flight  of  stairs,  and  his  step 
dragged  perceptibly,  as  he  entered  the  room. 

"  What  do  you  want  ? "  John  asked  lazily, 
without  stirring  from  his  place  by  the  window. 

"I  was  after  you."  Kingsley  crossed  to  the 
table  and  began  fumbling  with  the  papers  there. 

"Well,  here  I  am." 

Kingsley  waited  a  moment  in  silence.  Then 
he  faced  about. 

"The  fact  is,  I've  something  beastly  to  tell 
you." 

John  laughed  easily. 

"What's  the  row?  Have  you  flunked  some 
more  examinations,  or  has  the  Dean  been  calling 
you  down  ?  " 

"  It's  not  that.     It  is  from  home." 

John  looked  a  trifle  anxious. 


2T4  URSULA'S  FRESHMAN 

"Anything  wrong?  I  had  a  letter  from 
Ursula,  just  now,  and  she  saw  your  mother, 
only  Monday." 

Kingsley  bit  his  lip  irresolutely. 

"It's  not  at  my  home;  it's  yours.  I've  just 
had  a  telegram  from  Mac  Holden,  saying  your 
father  is  ill,  nothing  dangerous;  but  he  thinks 
you  would  better  run  down  to  see  how  he  is." 

John  sat  up  straight.  His  face  was  white  to 
the  roots  of  his  hair,  and  a  bluish  ring  outlined 
his  mouth ;  but  he  spoke  steadily. 

"  Have  you  the  telegram  here  ?  " 

Kingsley  handed  it  to  him  in  silence.  In 
silence  he  read  it,  once,  twice,  three  times.  Then 
he  looked  at  his  watch. 

"I  can  just  catch  the  two-thirty  train,"  he 
said  briefly.  "  Tell  Dorrien,  please.  And — I'm 
obliged  to  you  for  coming  over,  you  know." 

That  was  all.  The  next  he  realized,  he  was 
counting  the  glimpses  of  the  blue  Sound,  which 
marked  his  endless  progress  towards  home. 
Ursula  met  him  on  the  threshold,  and  from  her 
eyes  he  read  that  his  worst  fear  was  not  fulfilled. 

"  Aunt  Ursula  and  the  nurse  are  with  him," 
she  said,  as  she  softly  closed  the  door.  "  I  have 
been  watching  for  you  to  come.  I  thought  you 
would  be  on  this  train." 

"  What  is  it  ?  "  he  asked. 


URSULA'S  FRESHMAN  275 

She  slid  her  arm  around  his  shoulders,  until  it 
rested  across  the  back  of  his  neck,  and,  for  some 
reason,  John  made  no  effort  to  withdraw  himself 
from  her  girlish  caress. 

"  The  real  danger  is  over,  Jackie.  I  am  tell- 
ing you  the  honest  truth.  He  had  an  ill  turn  in 
his  office,  this  morning.  They  telephoned  to 
Aunt  Ursula,  and  she  telephoned  to  Dr.  Holden. 
I  went  with  her,  and  we  were  all  there  at  about 
the  same  minute.  Dr.  Holden  says  it  came  near 
being  apoplexy ;  but  he  just  escaped  it.  They 
brought  him  home  at  noon,  and  then  Dr.  Holden 
sent  for  you.  Aunt  Ursula  misses  you  so  much 
that  we  all  thought  you'd  better  run  down  for  a 
day  or  two." 

"  And  you  say  that  the  danger  is  over  ?  " 

"Yes,  anyway  for  the  present.  Dr.  Holden 
says  he  will  come  out  all  right." 

"  Can  I  go  to  him  ?  " 

"  Not  just  yet.  He  is  quiet,  and  they  hope  he 
will  drop  to  sleep.  Aunt  Ursula  asked  me  to 
tell  you  that  she  will  come  down  as  soon  as  she 
can.  But,  oh,  Jackie  !  " 

For  the  first  time  since  he  had  come  into  the 
house,  John  looked  squarely  at  his  cousin.  In 
the  early  dusk,  her  face  showed  white  and  wan, 
and  her  dark  eyes  seemed  to  glitter  out  at  him 
from  darker  shadows. 


276  URSULAS  FRESHMAN 

"  Ursula !  What  is  it  ?  "  he  asked  again,  with 
recurrent  fear.  "  You  look " 

She  interrupted  him  hastily. 

"  As  if  I  were  tired  ?  I  am,  Jackie ;  but  it  is 
so  good  to  see  you  that  I  don't  mind.  It  has 
been  a  hard  day  for  us  all,  you  know." 

"But  if  my  father  is  better?"  he  said,  with 
boyish  optimism. 

"  Yes ;  but  one  doesn't  get  over  such  a  fright 
in  an  hour." 

"  And  how  did  mother  stand  it  ?  " 

"  Wonderfully.  She  was  quiet  and  steady. 
She  hasn't  cried  a  tear ;  but  it  has  taken  all  her 
courage  to  go  through  it." 

"  Was  he  all  right,  this  morning  ? "  John 
asked,  as  he  gently  let  her  arm  drop,  while  he 
took  off  his  overcoat. 

"  As  well  as  he  has  been,  for  ever  so  long. 
You  know  we  worried  about  him  in  the  spring. 
This  has  been  coming  on  for  a  good  while,  we 
think  now ;  and  nobody — and  we  didn't  realize 
how  serious  it  was."  She  straightened  her  lips 
into  a  hard,  firm  line.  Then  she  said  bravely, 
"  Come,  Jack,  there's  a  fire  in  the  library,  and  I 
know  you  are  tired  and  want  to  be  made 
comfy."  And  she  held  out  her  hand  to  him  in- 
vitingly. 

He  took  her  hand  and  slipped  it  through  his 


URSULAS  FRESHMAN  277 

arm,  wondering  a  little,  as  he  did  so,  that  her 
fingers  were  so  cold. 

In  the  library,  the  lights  were  burning  cozily 
and  a  bright  fire  glowed  in  the  grate.  Every- 
thing looked  strangely  natural :  the  vase  of  roses 
that  always  stood  on  the  mantel,  the  low  step- 
ladder  before  the  long  lines  of  books,  and  his 
father's  easy  chair  drawn  up  beside  the  reading- 
lamp  on  the  table.  John's  face  brightened,  as  he 
saw  all  the  well-remembered  details  of  the  luxu- 
rious room.  He  had  not  thought  of  being 
home-sick ;  nevertheless,  home  was  an  infinitely 
more  attractive  place  than  his  rather  cramped 
quarters  in  Pierson.  He  dropped  down  into 
his  accustomed  seat  by  the  fire  and,  from 
sheer  force  of  habit,  he  bent  forward  to  pick 
up  the  poker.  Then  he  glanced  up  at  his 
cousin. 

"  Oh,  but  iV0  good  to  be  here  again !  Sit 
down,  Ursula,  and  let's  pretend  that  I've  never 
been  away." 

Already,  under  the  influence  of  her  good  news 
from  his  father,  he  was  reacting  from  the  strain 
of  the  past  three  hours.  She  shrank  from  the 
unconscious  content  in  his  tone;  nevertheless, 
she  came  forward  to  his  side. 

"It  has  been  terribly  lonely  without  you, 
Jackie.  We  all  have  missed  you.  Sometimes  I 


278  URSULA'S  FRESHMAN 

think  that,  for  all  he  is  so  silent,  Uncle  Henry 
has  missed  you  most  of  us  all." 

"  But  you  say  he  has  been  fairly  well,  till  this 
morning  ?  " 

"Ye-es."  The  word  lengthened  doubtfully. 
"  At  least,  he  has  seemed  so." 

"  I  wonder  what  brought  this  on."  John 
spoke  thoughtfully. 

Nervously  Ursula's  hands  closed  on  the  arms 
of  her  chair.  As  yet  her  task  was  not  all  done. 
In  some  respects,  the  hardest  of  it  all  was  yet 
before  her.  Nevertheless,  some  one  must  do  it, 
and,  in  pity  for  her  aunt,  Ursula  had  offered  to 
be  that  some  one. 

"They  think  it  was  partly  from  business 
worry,"  she  answered  slowly. 

"  Yes,"  John  said,  with  his  eyes  fixed  on  the 
fire.  "  I  thought  he  was  worrying  about  things, 
away  back  last  spring.  You  know  I  told  you 
that  something  was  wrong,  when  he  wouldn't 
let  mother  go  to  Europe." 

"  I  wonder  if  she  isn't  glad  now  that  she  gave 
it  up,"  Ursula  said  impetuously. 

"Because  they  had  such  good  times,  last  sum- 
mer? I  should  think  she  would  be.  I  never 
saw  them  hang  together  more.  As  a  rule,  they 
went  their  own  ways.  Do  you  suppose  she  knew 
about  this  ?  " 


URSULAS  FRESHMAN  279 

"  Oh,  no,"  Ursula  answered  hastily.  Then  she 
checked  herself.  "  Knew  about  what  ?  " 

"  That  he  was  worrying  ?  " 

"  No ;  not  to  think  much  about  it.  At  least, 
that's  what  I  should  judge  from  what  she  said  to 
me,  to-day." 

Again  John  bent  forward,  this  time  to  prod 
the  fire. 

"Strange  what  should  have  brought  this  on, 
to-day." 

There  was  no  answer,  and  he  looked  up  at 
Ursula,  at  first  inquiringly,  then  with  dawning 
suspicion. 

"Was  there  any  especial  thing,  to-day,  that 
caused  it  ?  "  he  asked  sharply. 

For  a  moment,  her  courage  failed  her. 

"  Yes — that  is — things  are  always  up  and  down 
in  Wall  Street,  you  know — and " 

"  And  ?  "     The  word  was  plainly  interrogative. 

"  And  I  suppose  to-day  was  one  of  the  most 
uneven  days,"  she  concluded  lamely. 

With  steady  deliberation,  John  put  the  poker 
back  into  its  stand ;  then  he  rose  and  faced 
Ursula. 

"  Something  is  wrong,"  he  said  briefly  ;  "  and 
you  are  keeping  something  back  from  me.  What 
is  it?" 

She  bit  her  lip.     Before  she  could  rally  and 


280  URSULA'S  FRESHMAN 

meet  his  question,  he  had  followed  it  up  with 
another. 

"  Ursula,  has  my  father  been  losing  money  ?  " 

"  Yes." 

"  Is  it  his  own,  or  somebody  else's  ?  "  he  asked 
in  the  same  steady,  determined  manner. 

Her  eyes  flashed  indignantly. 

"How  dare  you  ask  such  a  question  of  your 
own  father  ?  "  she  demanded. 

He  drew  a  long  breath  of  relief. 

"  Because  I  wanted  to  know  the  very  worst. 
I  can  stand  anything  now  ;  but  don't,  in  mercy's 
name,  keep  anything  back."  For  the  moment, 
it  was  a  man  who  was  speaking.  "  Has  he  lost 
much?" 

"Yes." 

"  How  much  ?  " 

Again  she  faltered. 

"  How  much  ?  "  he  repeated.  "  There  is  no 
kindness  in  making  me  drag  it  out  of  you,  a 
word  at  a  time.  How  much  has  he  lost  ?  " 

"Everything."  Suddenly  she  rose  and  stood 
beside  him.  "Jackie,  it  couldn't  be  much  worse. 
It  has  been  coming  for  a  year.  Things  were 
running  backwards,  and  he  couldn't  seem  to  find 
what  was  making  all  the  trouble.  Still,  he 
thought  he  could  go  through  it,  without  its  doing 
any  lasting  harm ;  but,  to-day,  he  missed  one  of 


URSULA'S  FRESHMAN  281 

the  clerks,  Mr.  Mitchell,  and  when  they  came  to 
look  at  his  books,  they  found  out  where  all  the 
trouble  came  from.  Jack,  that  man  has  been 
stealing,  for  more  than  a  year  ;  his  going  now  is 
the  end  of  everything." 

"  Who  found  it  out  ?  " 

"  Uncle  Henry.  He  took  the  books  and  called 
one  of  the  other  clerks,  and  went  into  the  inside 
office.  When  the  clerk  called,  they  found  Uncle 
Henry  lying  with  his  head  on  the  table,  and  they 
sent  for  us." 

"And  it  takes  it  all?"  The  boy  spoke 
drearily. 

"  Yes,  even  the  house.  Jack,  i  wish  I  could 
comfort  you.  It  wouldn't  be  so  hard  for  me.  I 
am  used  to  scrimping ;  but  I  can't  think  of  you 
as  being  poor." 

He  flinched  at  the  word. 

"Don't  call  it  that,  Ursula.  There  must  be 
something." 

She  shook  her  head. 

"  Not  much.  Jackie,  it  kills  me  to  tell  you 
this ;  but  Aunt  Ursula  couldn't,  and  so  I  had  to. 
Can't  you  see  how  sorry  I  am  for  you  and  for  all 
the  change  it  will  make  in  your  plans?" 

Her  head  had  been  resting  against  his  shoul- 
der ;  but  now  he  turned  to  face  her. 

"  Ursula,"  he  said  slowly  ;  "  don't  worry  about 


282  URSULAS  FRESHMAN 

me.  I  can  stand  it,  for  I  am  young  enough  to 
start  all  over  again.  It  won't  hurt  me;  but — 
my  poor  father !  " 


URSULA'S  FRESHMAN  283 


CHAPTEK  TWENTY-ONE 

"  JUDAS  PRIEST!    What  are  you  doing?" 

*/  Kingsley  demanded,  as  he  came  into 
John's  room  in  Pierson,  a  week  later. 

John  looked  down  at  him  from  the  step-ladder 
where  he  was  standing  to  take  down  the  Hermes. 

"  Packing,"  he  answered  briefly. 

"  Looks  to  me  a  good  deal  more  as  if  you  were 
unpacking,  as  far  as  your  wall  is  concerned. 
Are  you  preparing  to  move  ?  " 

"  That's  just  what  I'm  doing." 

Kingsley 's  face  expressed  commiseration. 

"  What's  the  matter  ?  Have  you  and  Dorrien 
had  a  row  ?  " 

"  Of  course  not.  Nobody  could  row  with  old 
Dorrien.  He's  a  good  fellow." 

"  Then  what's  the  cause  of  this  'ruction  ?  " 

With  the  Hermes  clasped  in  the  hollow  of  his 
right  arm,  John  deliberately  came  down  from 
the  ladder. 

"  I'm  going  up  into  Whalley  Place,"  he  said, 
when  he  was  once  more  on  the  ground. 

Kingsley    dropped    down   on   the   couch  and 


284  URSULAS  FRESHMAN 

stared  at  his  friend  in  utter  stupefac- 
tion. 

"  You  ! "  he  ejaculated. 

"Yes.     Why  not?" 

"That's  where  the  long-haired  grinds  fatten 
and  thrive.  If  you  go  there,  you'll  turn  into  an- 
other just  like  them.  If  you  can't  study  enough 
here  in  Pierson,  then  go  decently  up  town,  not 
into  the  suburbs  of  Westville.  What's  the 
trouble?  Is  there  too  much  larking  around 
here,  and  does  it  interfere  with  your  scholastic 
pursuits  ?  " 

"  No ;  I  could  study  at  Poli's,  if  it  were  neces- 
sary. But  I  can't  afford  this  room." 

"  How  long  since  ?  "  Kingsley  asked  jocosely. 

John  looked  at  him  in  surprise. 

"  Hasn't  your  mother  written  you  ?  " 

"Written  me  nothing.  Is  something  wrong 
at  your  house  ?  " 

"  My  father  has  failed.  That  was  what  made 
him  ill,"  John  explained  concisely. 

"  Pettijack  !    An  up  and  down  failure  ?  " 

"As  bad  as  it  can  be.  The  house  must  go. 
I'm  to  finish  out  my  term  here,  the  year,  if 
nothing  comes  up  to  give  me  a  chance  in  busi- 
ness ;  but  I  can't  keep  the  room." 

"  What  about  Dorrien  ?  " 

"  The  best  fellow  living.     He  will  find  some- 


URSULA'S  FRESHMAN  285 

body  else,  Bertie  Drummond,  probabty,  and  let 
me  out  now." 

"  He  is  good.  Now  come  and  bunk  in  with 
me  for  a  while,"  Kingsley  suggested. 

John  shook  his  head. 

"  Two  not  allowed  in  single  rooms.  Besides,  I 
should  disgrace  you.  I'm  going  in  for  self-help, 
and  all  that  sort  of  thing.  If  I  stay  on  for  the 
year,  I've  got  it  all  to  do." 

"  As  how  ?  " 

John's  teeth  shut  hard  together. 

"  Beggars  mustn't  be  choosers.  I'm  going  to 
wait  on  table,  up  in  Wall  Street." 

"  Oh,  say  now !  "  Kingsley  protested.  "  That's 
awful !  Isn't  there  anything  else  ?  " 

"Not  just  now.  Later,  I  am  going  to  try  for 
some  tutoring ;  but  it  is  too  soon  to  get  much  of 
that." 

"  In  what  ?  " 

"  Greek,  mostly.  You  know  I'm  doing  sopho- 
more work  in  that." 

Kingsley  clasped  his  hands  piously. 

"  Glory  be !  I  flunked  Greek,  last  June,  and  I 
haven't  done  a  thing  but  wonder  where  I'd  get  a 
tutor  that  could  understand  my  peculiar  tempera- 
ment. Pettijack,  if  you  love  me,  begin  work  on 
me,  to-morrow." 

John  looked  at  him  suspiciously. 


286  URSULA'S  FRESHMAN 

"  Sure  you  aren't  doing  it  to  help  me  out  ? " 
he  demanded. 

"  Ask  the  Dean.  He  won't  lie,  even  for  sweet 
charity's  sake.  Oh-h-h  !  "  Kingsley  gave  a  sigh 
of  relief.  "  It's  a  good  day's  work  I  have  done, 
this  morning.  How  is  your  father  ?  " 

"  Better.  Dr.  Holden  has  done  wonders  for 
him,  and  he  has  come  up  faster  than  we  had  any 
idea  he  could." 

"  What  about  Ursula  ?  " 

John  had  mounted  the  step-ladder  again,  and 
was  just  reaching  up  to  unhook  a  picture.  At 
the  question,  he  turned  fully  around. 

"  Rex,"  he  said  slowly ;  "  that  cousin  of  mine 
is  heroic." 

But  Ursula,  playing  cribbage  with  her  uncle 
in  the  library,  would  have  been  the  first  one  to 
deny  the  truth  of  the  word.  To  her  mind,  there 
had  been  no  chance  for  heroism  in  the  quiet  ac- 
ceptance of  unavoidable  and  unexpected  condi- 
tions, especially  when  those  conditions  were 
affecting  others  rather  than  herself.  For  the 
sake  of  her  aunt  and  uncle,  she  could  have  cried 
aloud  with  pity.  It  was  no  easy  thing  for  them, 
after  years  of  growing  prosperity  when  money 
had  been  forthcoming  for  their  fast-increasing 
wishes,  to  face  a  future  which  would  be  barren 
of  luxury,  almost  destitute  of  comforts.  As 


URSULA'S  FRESHMAN  287 

Nathalie  had  said,  months  before,  poverty  was  far 
harder  for  the  rich  than  for  the  poor.  The  need- 
ful scrimping  which  maddens  the  one,  becomes 
second  nature  to  the  other,  and  one  rarely  rebels 
at  the  facts  of  his  second  nature.  Mrs.  Thain 
would  have  considered  as  opulent  the  annual 
pittance  at  which  Mrs.  Myers  was  already 
shuddering.  Nevertheless,  the  house  must  go, 
and  with  it  the  greater  part  of  the  furniture.  It 
would  help  to  pay  the  many  debts,  and,  more- 
over, it  would  be  manifestly  unsuitable  in  the 
simpler  home  which  they  were  soon  to 
find. 

Already  that  home  had  been  a  source  of  much 
discussion,  a  discussion  in  which  Mr.  Myers  had 
insisted  upon  taking  his  own  part.  He  had 
rallied  with  surprising  swiftness  from  this  first 
illness  of  his  life,  and  he  faced  the  future  bravely, 
borne  up  by  the  knowledge  that  the  failure  had 
been  none  of  his  own  making,  and  by  the  un- 
swerving loyalty  of  his  wife. 

"Henry,"  she  had  said  quietly,  as  she  bent 
over  him,  the  morning  after  the  crisis  had  come ; 
"  I  am  not  worrying  in  the  least.  As  long  as 
you  are  coming  out  of  this  so  well,  the  rest 
doesn't  court  for  much.  We  have  had  our  good 
times  and  made  the  very  most  of  them.  We 
aren't  old  people  yet,  by  any  means,  and  perhaps 


288  URSULA'S  FRESHMAN 


it  may  not  hurt  us  a  bit  to  try  a  little  simpler 
way  of  living." 

"  But "  he  said  slowly. 

She  interrupted  him. 

"  There  aren't  any  buts.  I  have  been  spoiled 
long  enough ;  it  is  time  I  took  a  little  of  the 
care.  Hurry  to  grow  strong,  dear,  and  then 
we'll  have  great  times,  planning  things.  It  will 
be  like  a  second  honeymoon." 

She  kept  up  that  attitude  before  the  faces  of 
her  husband  and  son.  Once  and  once  only 
Ursula,  coming  suddenly  into  her  aunt's  room, 
found  Mrs.  Myers  sobbing  as  if  her  heart  would 
break ;  but,  as  a  rule,  such  hours  came  only  when 
the  house  was  quiet  for  the  night.  By  day,  she 
faced  the  future  dauntlessly,  and  sought,  by  an 
increasing  daintiness,  to  draw  attention  from  the 
heavy  shadows  that  lay  about  her  eyes. 

Of  John's  going  back  to  Yale,  there  had  been 
no  question.  His  strong  opposition  to  the  idea 
had  been  overruled,  and  it  was  decided  that,  at 
least  for  the  present,  he  should  keep  on  with  his 
college  work.  He  had  been  sent  away,  protest- 
ing to  the  last;  but  it  was  only  Ursula  who 
knew  of  the  boyish  determination  which  was  to 
lead  to  his  talk  with  Kingsley.  She  had  listened 
to  him  in  silence,  until  he  had  ended  the  explana- 
tion of  his  plan. 


URSULA'S  FRESHMAN  289 

"  Jackie,"  she  said  then  ;  "  I  am  proud  of  you. 
I  knew  you  had  it  all  in  you ;  but  I  didn't  think 
it  would  come  out  so  sooii.  It  is  going  to  be  a 
horrid  thing  to  do ;  but  it  won't  hurt  you  in  the 
end.  Grinding  never  does.  It  only  shows  you 
what  you  amount  to,  yourself,  and  who  your  real 
friends  are.  But — I  do  wish  I  could  be  there  to 
talk  things  over  with  you  and  coddle  you  up  now 
and  then.  You  know  you  would  like  to  have  me." 

John  was  never  demonstrative ;  few  boys  were 
less  so.  Now,  however,  he  bent  over  Ursula's 
chair  and  touched  her  cheek  with  his  own. 
Then,  as  if  ashamed  of  even  this  betrayal  of 
feeling,  he  straightened  up  abruptly. 

"  Doesn't  it  prove  it,  that  you  are  the  only 
person  I  have  told  about  this  thing  ?  "  he  asked. 
Then  he  glanced  up,  as  his  mother  appeared  in 
the  doorway. 

"Come  into  the  library,  children,"  she  said. 
"We  must  talk  things  over,  to-night;  and,  if 
John  goes,  in  the  morning,  we  want  to  see  as 
much  of  him  as  we  can  now." 

"  Yes,  we'll  come."  And  John  went  forward 
and  drew  her  hand  through  his  arm.  "  You're  a 
good  deal  of  a  mother,"  he  said  approvingly. 

For  an  instant,  her  voice  broke. 

"  Oh,  John,  I  wish  I  were !  I  wish  I  always 
had  been  !  But,  after  a  fashion,  I  have  tried." 


290  URSULAS  FRESHMAN 

In  the  library,  Ursula  settled  herself  comfort- 
ably at  her  uncle's  feet,  and  awaited  the  begin- 
ning of  the  serious  talk  which  she  felt  sure  was 
bound  to  follow.  As  for  her  own  part  in  it,  her 
mind  had  been  made  up,  a  week  before. 

"  We  have  been  planning  where  to  go,  John," 
Mrs.  Myers  said,  when  she  and  her  son  were 
seated  on  the  sofa  in  the  corner  of  the  room. 
"  We  mean  to  go  out  of  the  house  before  Christ- 
mas ;  earlier  than  that,  if  any  one  wants  to  take 
it  off  our  hands.  That  gives  us  about  six  weeks, 
and  there  is  a  great  deal  to  be  done." 

"  And  you  are  sending  me  off,  where  I  can't 
help,"  he  rebuked  her. 

"  Never  mind  that  now.  We  decided  that  it 
was  best,  and  we'd  better  not  discuss  it  again. 
But,  about  the  new  home ;  shall  it  be  home,  or 
boarding  ?  " 

"  What  do  you  mean  ?  " 

"  Shall  we  take  a  little  apartment  and  keep  a 
few  of  the  old  home  things ;  or  shall  we  decide 
to  let  everything  go,  and  board  ?  If  we  board, 
we  can  do  it  more  comfortably,  perhaps;  but 
there  will  be  no  home  about  it.  Which  do  you 
prefer  ?  " 

"I'm  not  the  one  to  decide,"  he  answered. 

"  Yes.  At  least,  you  ought  to  be  consulted. 
It  will  be  your  home,  too." 


URSULA'S  FRESHMAN  291 

"  It  will  be  easier  for  you,  if  we  board,"  he 
said  regretfully. 

"  And  lonelier,"  she  answered  quickly. 

"  Could  we — could  you  keep  house  ?  " 

"  Yes,  simply  and  with  one  maid.  But,  John, 
it  wouldn't  be  like  any  living  you  have  ever 
known.  The  rooms  would  be  tucked-up,  and  the 
maid  wouldn't  be  like  the  trained  servants  we 
have  always  had.  It  is  only  fair  to  tell  you 
this." 

"I  know;  but  it  would  be  home,"  he  said 
bluntly.  "  What  does  father  say  ?  " 

"  He  feels  as  you  do.  Still,  I  want  you  to  see 
all  sides  of  the  matter.  When  you  think  of 
housekeeping,  you  mustn't  expect  it  to  be  like 
the  way  we  have  done  things,  nor  like  the  way 
the  Barretts  live.  We  should  have  to  work  hard 
and  live  simply  and  count  the  cost  of  things 
down  to  the  last  cent." 

He  faced  her  proudly. 

"  Who  cares  ?  As  long  as  we  have  each  other 
and  Ursula,  the  rest  doesn't  count." 

"But  we  aren't  going  to  have  Ursula  much 
longer,  John." 

"All  the  year." 

"  Not  now." 

"  Why  not  ?  " 

Ursula,  meanwhile,  had  been  talking  with  her 


292  URSULAS  FRESHMAN 

uncle.  Now,  as  she  caught  her  name,  she  lis- 
tened for  the  next  words. 

"  "Why  not  ?  "  John  repeated. 

She  turned  around  and  faced  the  sofa. 

«  Not  what,  Jackie  ?  " 

"Why  aren't  you  going  to  stay  out  your 
year  ?  " 

"But  I  am." 

"  Mother  says  you  aren't." 

"  Then  '  mother '  has  made  a  mistake,"  she  an- 
swered quietly. 

"  Ursula  dear,"  Mrs.  Myers  interposed ;  "  it  is 
very  hard  to  tell  you  this ;  but  Mr.  Heath  is  go- 
ing to  start  for  Omaha,  next  week,  and  I  am 
going  to  send  you  home  in  his  care." 

"  I  should  like  to  know  the  reason,"  she  said, 
still  quietly. 

"Because  we  can't  make  it  pleasant  for  you 
any  longer;  because  of  this  change  of  things, 
dear." 

"All  the  more  reason  I  should  stay.  You 
borrowed  me  for  a  year,  you  know.  It  hurts  me 
to  be  sent  home,  before  the  year  is  over." 

"  Don't  make  it  any  harder  for  me,  child,"  her 
aunt  begged  her.  "  It  breaks  my  heart  to  give 
you  up." 

Ursula  rose  to  her  feet.  Her  hand  rested  on 
her  uncle's  shoulder,  and  through  his  wadded 


URSULA'S  FRESHMAN  293 

housecoat,  he  could  feel  the  hand  shake  a  little ; 
but  the  voice  was  quite  steady  and  even. 

"I  am  glad  to  hear  you  say  that,  Aunt 
Ursula,"  she  said  gently ;  "  because  I  am  going 
to  stay  here,  this  winter.  No.  Listen !  For 
more  than  a  year,  you  have  been  doing  every- 
thing for  me ;  and  I  haven't  always  been  half 
grateful  enough  about  it,  either.  Now  I  have  a 
chance  to  do  a  little  something  for  you.  In  all 
this  breaking  up  and  moving,  I  know  I  can  help 
you.  I've  been  trained  to  work ;  I've  been 
taught  to  be  poor,  and  not  to  mind  the  scrimp- 
ing. It  is  a  great  deal  easier  for  me  than  it  is 
going  to  be  for  you.  I'm  young,  and  strong  as  I 
can  be.  It  is  good  for  me  to  work,  and  they 
don't  need  me  at  home.  I'm  going  to  stay  with 
you,  this  winter,  and  help  in  the  new  housekeep- 
ing. I  am  as  good  as  any  maid  you  can  get,  I 
know ;  and  you  know  you  can't  get  along  with- 
out me." 

It  seemed  to  John  that  he  held  his  breath  for 
an  apparently  endless  interval,  while  he  waited 
for  his  mother's  reply.  It  came  at  last,  how- 
ever. 

"No,  Ursula,  I'm  afraid  I  can't." 


294  URSULA'S  FRESHMAN 


CHAPTER  TWENTY-TWO 

"  /^*  IFF,  I  have  experienced  religion." 

V-T  Mr.  Barrett  looked  up  from  an  inky 
score. 

"St.  Swithin's  rainbow!  You  don't  mean 
it?" 

"I  do." 

"  Do  you  feel  ill  anywhere  ?  "  he  asked  anx- 
iously. 

"No;  only  the  painful  consciousness  of  con- 
science. It  will  pass  off." 

"  What  have  you  done,  Babe  ?  " 

"  Guess  ! "  she  said  tragically. 

"Don't  sit  on  my  maestoso.  Those  heavy 
chords  take  any  amount  of  ink,  and  they  will 
ruin  your  back  breadths.  What  is  it  ?  " 

"  I  have  invited  a  Thanksgiving  dinner  party." 

"  Don't  you  always  ?  " 

"  Yes ;  but  not  of  this  ilk.  I  have  been  out  in 
the  highways  and  hedges,  and  they're  all  com- 
ing." 

"  So  much  the  better." 

"  Yes ;  but  they  won't  jibe." 


URSULA'S  FRESHMAN  295 

"  Meaning  mock  ?  " 

"  No  ;  hitch  together.  Don't  criticize  my  lan- 
guage, in  the  face  of  such  a  combination." 

Her  husband  laughed,  while  he  meditatively 
inked  the  fingers  of  her  hand,  as  it  lay  on  the 
table  beside  him. 

"Who  is  it,  Babe?" 

"  Well,  I'll  tell  you.    It's  Kex." 

"  Naturally.     Who  else  ?  " 

Mrs.  Barrett  counted  rapidly. 

"  And  Paul  and  Lyn,  and  Ted  and  Billy,  and 
the  Ainslees,  and  Mac,  and  the  Arterburns,  of 
course." 

"  Well,  that's  all  right.     They  fit  admirably." 

"  Yes ;  but  you  haven't  heard  the  worst.  Now 
brace  yourself  for  a  shock.  I've  asked  the  whole 
platoon  of  Myerses." 

Mr.  Barrett's  jaw  dropped. 

"Babe!" 

"  Yes,  the  whole  b'ilin'  of  them,"  she  reiterated 
grimly. 

"Mrs.  Myers?" 

"Yes." 

"And  Mr.  Myers?" 

"Yes." 

"  But  Teddy  is  coming." 

"  Let  her  come ! "  Mrs.  Barrett  said  reck- 
lessly. 


296  URSULAS  FRESHMAN 

"But  won't  it  be  rather  trying  for  them 
both?" 

Mrs.  Barrett  looked  at  her  husband  rebuk- 
ingly. 

"Now,  Giff,  let  bygones  be  bygones.  You 
haven't  much  to  say,  for  your  own  past  is  rather 
murky.  Mr.  Myers  did  appear,  unbidden  and  on 
all  fours,  at  Teddy's  dinner  party ;  but  I  know 
somebody  else  who  ran  into  a  lone  woman  and 
knocked  her  off  her  bicycle,  and  then  ended  by 
stealing  her  skull." 

"The  only  time  I  ever  made  you  lose  your 
head,"  he  commented  gravely.  "  But  about  the 
Myers  faction." 

"Well?" 

"  "What  made  you  ask  them  ?  " 

"  Because  they  are  having  a  hard  time  of  it, 
and  making  the  best  of  bad  things  most  heroic- 
ally ;  because  this  is  the  first  Thanksgiving  since 
the  downfall,  and  it  will  be  dreary  enough  at 
best ;  because  benevolence  leads  to  sanctification, 
and  I  propose  to  get  sanctified,  some  way  or 
other.  Giff,  if  you  don't  like  it,  you  can  eat  at 
second  table." 

"Oh,  I  like  it,"  he  returned  tranquilly.  "I 
was  only  a  little  surprised  because  I  thought 
that,  on  one  or  two  occasions,  I  had  heard  you 
mention  that  you " 


URSULA'S  FRESHMAN  291 

"  Detested  Mrs.  Myers,"  his  wife  supplemented 
coolly.  "Well,  I  do.  At  least,  I  did.  From 
all  I  hear  now,  though,  I  think  I  rather  admire 
the  woman.  She  may  not  be  agreeable ;  but  she 
is  gritty  enough  to  make  up,  and  that  little 
Ursula  is  superb." 

"It  was  a  bad  break-up.  I  wonder  if  there 
were  any  fragments  left,"  Mr.  Barrett  said  re- 
flectively. 

"  Not  many.  He  had  been  running  too  close 
to  the  wind,  and  that  clerk  of  his  capsized  him." 

"  What  is  he  going  to  do  ?  " 

"Nothing  for  a  month,  Mac  says.  Then  he 
will  go  hunting  for  a  position.  Awful,  at  his 
age ! " 

Mr.  Barrett  impaled  a  scrap  of  music  paper  on 
the  end  of  his  pen,  and  twirled  it  thoughtfully  in 
the  ink. 

"  Billy  Farrington's  manager  is  going  to  take 
an  invalid  wife  to  Europe,"  he  observed. 

"  Giff !     The  very  thing !  " 

"  Of  course,  it  may  not Where  are  you 

going?" 

"  To  write  to  Billy."  And  the  door  shut  be- 
hind her,  leaving  Mr.  Barrett  to  make  a  futile 
effort  to  sort  out  his  themes  and  his  episodes 
once  more. 

Three  days  later,  one  of  the  rooms  in  Yander- 


298  URSULAS  FRESHMAN 

bilt  was  filled  to  overflowing,  and  Kingsley  per- 
vaded all  things,  with  a  jovial  smile  on  his  face 
and  a  platter  of  cold  chicken  in  his  hands. 

"  Everything  is  so  cramming  full  that  I  thought 
it  would  be  much  better  to  have  lunch  here,"  he 
said,  as  he  settled  his  mother  in  the  easiest  chair 
the  room  afforded,  and  then  helped  Ursula  to 
spring  up  on  the  high  window  seat.  "  It  isn't  a 
great  spread  you'll  get ;  but  it  will  carry  you  as 
far  as  the  field,  and  your  enthusiasm  will  do  the 
rest." 

"  Who  will  win,  Rex  ?  "  Nathalie  asked  from 
the  other  window,  where  she  was  ensconced  with 
John  beside  her  and  a  half-dozen  sophomores  at 
her  feet. 

"  The  idea  of  asking,  when  you  are  a  guest  of 
the  victorious  side !  " 

"  It  isn't  victorious  yet." 

"  It's  going  to  be,  though.  Whose  flowers  are 
you  wearing  ?  " 

She  blushed  a  little,  as  she  buried  her  nose  in 
the  great  bunch  of  violets  she  wore. 

"Mac's,  of  course.  You  didn't  send  me 
any." 

"  No,"  Kingsley  answered  calmly.  "  A  fellow 
doesn't  waste  flowers  on  an  engaged  cousin.  I 
sent  mine  to  Ursula." 

She  nodded  up  at  him. 


URSULAS  FEE  SUM  AN  299 

"  And  they  are  beauties,  too.  "What  is  it, 
Nathalie?"  " 

"  That  is  the  room  over  beyond  the  arch " 

"  The  third  window  on  the  ground  floor,  that 
Mac  had  in  his  sophomore  year."  Kingsley 
completed  her  sentence  for  her.  "Never  mind 
now,  Nathalie.  Mac  isn't  here,  and  this  is  Kex's 
party." 

"Where  is  your  room  now,  Jack?"  Ursula 
asked. 

"  A  mile  or  so  over  the  top  of  Dwight  Hall," 
he  answered. 

"  That  sounds  as  if  it  were  among  the  angels  ; 
but  it's  only  among  the  ranks  of  the  grinds," 
Kingsley  commented.  "  It  is  a  horrid  region ; 
but  he  has  a  mighty  pretty  room  up  there. 
We're  going  to  drop  in  on  him  for  tea,  after  the 
game." 

In  her  enthusiasm,  Ursula  nearly  tumbled  off 
the  window  seat. 

"  Oh,  Jackie,  I'm  so  glad !    You  didn't  tell  us." 

"  Steady ! "  Kingsley  cautioned  her,  as  he 
deftly  caught  her  fork  and  roll  with  the  same  hand. 

"Never  mind.  But  Aunt  Ursula  will  be  so 
glad  to  know  just  how  you  are  settled  and  all 
that.  Why  didn't  you  tell  us  ?  " 

"  It's  Rex's  planning,  to-day,"  John  said ;  but 
Kingsley  interrupted  him. 


300  URSULAS  FRESHMAN 

"  Don't  tell  them  that  I  wanted  to  get  out  of  hav- 
ing them  come  back  here.  Now,  mater,  if  you're 
refreshed  enough  to  renew  your  duties,  you 
might  summon  your  charges,  and  we'll  start  for 
the  field." 

By  dint  of  many  pennies  and  much  persuasion, 
Kingsley  had  succeeded  in  getting  a  carriage, 
and  the  driver  was  already  waiting  for  them  in 
front  of  the  Yanderbilt  Arch.  Five  minutes 
later,  they  were  picking  their  way  along  the 
street  which  was  packed  with  dozens  of  carriages, 
with  scores  of  swarming  street  cars  and  with 
hundreds  of  pedestrians,  a  mighty  stream  of  hu- 
manity all  flowing  westward  to  empty  into  the 
grand  stands  on  Yale  Field.  Blue  bunting  arched 
the  streets  and  dangled  from  the  windows, 
crimson  and  blue  flags  and  favors  were  on  all 
sides  and  pretty  girls  were  everywhere. 

Kingsley  surveyed  the  two  faces  before  him, 
the  blond  and  the  brown ;  then  he  nodded  ap- 
provingly at  his  mother. 

"Mighty  good  scheme,  your  coming  up, 
mater ! "  he  observed.  "  It  isn't  often  a  freshman 
like  Pettijack  has  a  chance  to  go  to  a  game  in 
such  company." 

From  his  seat  on  the  box,  John  glanced  down 
over  his  shoulder. 

"  That's  where  you're  right,  Rex,"  he  returned 


URSULA'S  FRESHMAN  301 

quickly.  "Mrs.  Barrett  is  a  guest  worth  the 
having." 

"Thank  you  for  the  compliment,  Jack,"  she 
answered,  with  sudden  gravity.  "We  chaper- 
ons appreciate  such  things  now  and  then."  And, 
as  she  left  the  carriage,  it  was  she,  not  Nathalie, 
who  walked  away  at  John's  side. 

"  I  believe  I  am  perfectly  content,"  Ursula  re- 
marked blissfully,  two  hours  later. 

The  game  had  been  played  out,  a  close  fight 
to  the  finish,  and  the  blue  was  triumphant,  with 
a  record  of  neither  broken  bones  nor  tricky 
plays.  At  its  close,  the  red  flags  had  vanished 
from  sight,  as  if  by  magic,  and  the  field  had 
turned  to  a  mass  of  blue  bunting,  while  the 
crowd  cheered  itself  hoarse,  and  the  band,  far 
away  up  at  the  head  of  the  field,  pounded  out 
Bright  College  Years  as  if  its  staid  leader  had 
gone  mad  with  delight.  Then  the  move  came 
again,  and  slowly  the  vast  stream  of  humanity 
began  flowing  back  to  the  city  where  it  broke 
into  different  courses  and  melted  away  for 
another  year. 

Up  in  one  of  the  side  streets,  half  a  mile  from 
the  campus,  the  carriage  drew  up  at  a  plain  little 
brick  house,  and  John  sprang  down  to  open  the 
door.  The  hallway  was  not  especially  inviting, 
and  the  stairs  were  narrow  and  not  too  well 


302  URSULAS  FRESHMAN 

lighted.  At  the  top,  John  threw  open  another 
door,  and  stood  aside  to  let  his  guests  pass  into 
the  room. 

"  Here  I  am,"  he  said  briefly. 

The  room  was  small,  and  its  two  windows 
looked  out  over  a  cheery  array  of  back  yards. 
The  carpet  was  shabby  and  the  paper  on  the 
walls  bore  the  marks  of  many  an  occupant  in  the 
past.  Nevertheless,  a  chafing  dish  stood  ready 
on  the  battered  table,  and  the  setting  sun  shone 
across  the  room  to  rest  upon  the  Hermes  and, 
below  it,  the  narrow  frame  holding  the  trio  of 
home  pictures,  Ursula,  Mr.  Myers  and,  between, 
the  dainty  little  mother  smiling  down  at  them, 
in  all  the  glory  of  a  Paris  frock. 

"  Keally,  he  is  making  no  end  of  a  success  as  a 
tutor,"  Kingsley  explained  to  his  mother,  while 
they  waited  for  the  oysters  to  cook.  "  His  getting 
me  through  my  examination  was  a  good  adver- 
tisement for  him.  The  fellows  knew  that,  after 
that,  he  could  tackle  anything ;  and  now  he  is 
getting  all  he  can  do." 

"  Are  you  making  your  fortune,  Jack  ?  "  Mrs. 
Barrett  asked,  from  the  couch  where  she  was 
spreading  bread  and  butter  for  the  feast. 

"  Endlessly.  Look  at  my  necktie,"  he  advised 
her  gravely.  "  Keally,  though,  I  shall  give  up 
the  table,  after  the  holidays,  and  give  all  my 


URSULA'S  FRESHMAN  303 

time  to  tutoring.  It's  not  such  a  grind,  either ; 
and  I  rather  like  the  fun  of  laying  down  the  law 
to  the  sophomores,  once  in  a  while." 

Ursula  looked  up  abruptly. 

"  I'm  going  to  tell  tales,"  she  announced. 
"Mrs.  Barrett,  that  boy  sent  home  his  last 
month's  allowance,  and  told  his  father  he  thought 
he  wouldn't  need  to  have  any  more  sent  to  him." 

Nathalie  rose,  waving  her  brimming  teacup. 

"  Here's  to  Pettijack  Myers  !  "  she  proclaimed. 

But  it  was  Kingsley  who  added,— 

"  Yes,  and  here's  to  Pettijack's  cousin ! " 


THE  END 


ANNA     CHAPIN     RAY'S 

"TEDDY"    STORIES 


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